Just a Bet
by Bunaco
Summary: Draco Malfoy was never one to turn down a challenge. But what happens when his friends bet that he can't get Harry Potter to go out with him? SLASH
1. Chapter 1

The sound of an explosion caught my attention. What the hell was that? I looked out the window to see purple smoke coming out of one of the buildings. People from around the street stopped whatever they were doing and stared as some people ran out of the smoking building. I looked up at the sign. No wonder. "It's the Weasley's."

"I wanted what caused the purple smoke," Pansy remarked, taking a sip of her tea. Pansy Parkinson was pale with black hair, an interesting contrast. She was the only girl in our small group of four. She's a lot brighter than everyone gives her credit for. And she's certainly not the slut they all say she is; she just likes to…tease.

"Probably one of their creations gone amuck," Theo mused, taking a bite out of his sandwich. Theodore Nott, or Theo as we all call him, was the shortest one of us. He was even shorter than Pansy by about a couple of inches. But what he lacks in height me makes up for in muscle. He was quite toned from all the quidditch. He grew out his dark brown hair over the summer. It was almost up to his shoulders now. He currently had most of it tied back in a low ponytail.

"But, you've got to admit, some of their stuff is quite clever," Blaise spoke up, his eyes still on the street. Blaise Zabini's olive toned skin complimented his brown hair and blue eyes quite nicely. He was the tallest one in our group, only taller than me by an inch or so, and he was definitely more toned than I was. Being a beater does require more muscle than being a seeker, I guess.

"What I'd like to know is where the Weaseley's got the money to start a business," I said with a bored tone. I glanced back out of the window of the café we were in. It wasn't interesting anymore. Everyone had gone back to what they were doing and the smoke had just about cleared already. Their building was the nicest one on the street. It looked freshly painted

"Not everyone can be as rich as you, Draco," Pansy replied. I smirked and took a sip of my drink. The Malfoy's _were_ one of the richest families in England.

"What were we talking about before that fiasco across the street?" I asked nonchalantly.

"We were trying to come up with a way to make our seventh year interesting," Theo replied.

"We have to come up with something fun," Pansy added. "Without the threat of the Dark Lord hanging over us anymore, there's nothing to keep us occupied."

"Damn you Potter for killing the bastard," I joked.

"I've got an idea," Blaise spoke up, eyeing something across the street. I looked out the window but only saw a family of five walking by. "Let's make a little bet."

"What kind of bet?" That caught my interest.

"You haven't had a real relationship with anyone before," Blaise didn't answer my question. "And whenever you have your little flings, it's never lasted more than a week."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I bet that you can't last in a relationship for a month," Blaise replied coolly.

"I can do that easily," I said with confidence.

"I don't know, Draco. You do get tired of people easily and end up finding someone better that you leave them for." Theo spoke up.

"I'm sure Draco could if he was motivated enough," I smiled at Pansy. At least she was on my side.

"Well, ten galleons says he can't," Blaise said confidently, laying the galleons on the table. Theo did the same.

"And ten says he can," Pansy laid her own galleons on the table as well. They all turned to me, waiting for my answer.

"Fine, I accept," I reached into my pocket and pulled out ten galleons and placed them on the table. Forty galleons total so whoever won would get twenty. That seemed like a decent enough amount for this particular bet.

"Any rules?" Pansy asked.

"Draco has to get into a relationship and make it last a full month, down to the very second, with a person that me and Theo choose. And it has to be done before Christmas break."

"No problem," Pansy spoke for me. "Almost the entire student population of Hogwarts is in love with him anyway."

I took another sip of my tea to hide the smirk. She was exaggerating, of course. I _do_ have quite the fan club at the school, though. Some people even say its just as impressive as Potter's.

"So who do I have to go out with?" I asked. Blaise smirked at me and seemed to think.

"How about the first person who comes out of the Weasley shop?" Blaise suggested. All of us turned to face the shop. As if to answer Blaise, the door opened and someone walked out. I recognized that messy head of hair. Blaise and Theo started cracking up while Pansy looked like she wanted to take back her bet.

I stared out the window in shock. Harry Potter stood in front of the shop, holding the door and laughing at something. Granger walked out after him, and she too was laughing at something. Finally, Ron Weasley walked out, grumbling about something. The Weasley twins walked out and said something that sent Potter and Granger into another laughing fit but made the younger Weasley fume.

"You knew he was going to walk out of that shop, didn't you?" Pansy stared at Blaise accusingly. Blaise only smiled at her in response. "Is that even fair?"

"I was going to say Potter anyway," Blaise shrugged. "But I saw him at the door and I thought it would have been more fun if Draco thought it was just horrible luck on his part. Just be grateful Weasley didn't walk out first."

"This is going to be the easiest twenty galleons I've ever made," Theo laughed, giving Blaise a high five.

"I can get Potter to fall in love with me," Did I just say what I think I just said?

"Are you sure, Draco?" Pansy asked, looking unsure.

No, I wasn't. But Malfoy's don't back down from a challenge. I tried to sound as confident as possible. "Of course. I am Draco Malfoy after all."

Pansy smiled, though she still looked unsure, while Blaise and Theo rolled their eyes at me.

"Then it's settled. You have until Christmas to get Potter to go out with you for a month. You can ask for help from anyone but no one besides the four of us is to know about the bet. You have until Christmas. You're time starts when we step onto the Hogwarts Express." Blaise stuck out his hand and I shook it. Pansy pulled out her wand and muttered a spell that would ensure that the rules of the bet would be followed.

"Wait," Theo spoke up," Isn't Potter with that Weasley girl?"

Oh yeah. I turned to Blaise who only smirked back at me. "I saw the Weasley girl with Dean Thomas before I met you guys here. She isn't with Potter anymore."

I glared at Blaise, wondering how long he's been planning this. How the hell am I going to get Potter to go out with me? He doesn't even like me.


	2. Chapter 2

"This is a waste of time," I complained. I was currently sitting on a bench in the Ministry of Magic next to my mother. Next to me was Blaise with his mother. And across from us was Theo and Pansy, also with their mothers.

"Quit whining, Draco," Pansy replied, staring at our nails. Today was the trials for all the Death Eaters who survived the war. We've been sitting here for almost an hour already, waiting for our fathers' turn.

"I don't whine," I bit back. "And, our fathers' were seen fighting with Dumbledore's men at the end of this war, isn't that proof enough that they aren't evil?"

"Be patient, dear," My mother, Narcissa said, looking up from her magazine. "Minister Fudge just has to follow protocol. I'm sure your father's trial will be very short. Then we can leave this place."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. This was a nice way to spend my last weekend of the summer. I looked around the hall for something to do. Memos were flying by over head, going to their respective offices. People were rushing around the place, hurrying with files. The door to the court room was currently open and people were filing in. Another trial was about to start. My father's trial would be after this one. Hopefully, this one isn't very long.

"Look who it is," Blaise spoke up, looking at someone who was walking down the hall. I followed his gaze. Harry Potter was walking down the hall with the werewolf from third year. What was his name again? Oh yeah, Lupin. The two were talking in hushed voices. They didn't seem to notice us or the rest of the people sitting on the benches waiting for the trials of their family members. They walked into the room right before it closed.

"What's he doing in there?" Theo asked.

"That's Sirius Black's trial," Pansy's mother replied.

"He probably wants to make sure the guy doesn't get away with betraying his parents," Blaise said in a soft voice. I nodded. Everyone knew the story about Sirius Black after what happened in third year.

"But, what is Lupin doing in there?" I asked.

"I believe he was best friends with Sirius," my mother replied, not looking up from her magazine. "Sirius, Lupin, and Potter's father were very close friends when they went to Hogwarts."

"Wow," Blaise commented, staring at the closed door. "It must suck being betrayed by your best friend."

The doors opened after about half an hour, and Sirius Black was the first one out, grinning like an idiot. The people from the press moved forward, taking pictures and asking questions.

"I guess they said he was innocent," Blaise whispered so only I could here him. "Potter must be miserable right now."

Just then, Potter walked out with Lupin. Both of them were grinning widely. What the hell was that about? Wasn't this man the reason Potter's family was dead? Why is he smiling like it was the best thing in the world?

"What the hell is that about?" I said in a low voice. The hall, which was filled with so much noise, had suddenly grown quiet when Potter stepped out. I looked around the room and saw looks of confusion on their faces at the smile on Potter's face. They were probably thinking the same thing I was.

As if to shock everyone some more, Potter stepped forward so he was standing right next to Black; the two shared a grin and Black put his arm around Potter's shoulders. Gasps went around the hall. The reporters seemed to snap out of it and began taking pictures once more. Potter, Black, and Lupin pushed their ways through the reporters, not answering any questions.

"What was _that_?" Blaise asked, the shock still in his voice.

"Our trial is next," Mrs. Nott stood, and we all followed suit. Our fathers' were in the same trial.

"Looks like you have to learn something about Potter before you get him to go out with you," Pansy whispered, walking next to me. Ugh. I almost forgot about that stupid bet.

"Bets starting, ready Draco?" Blaise asked. The two of us were standing on the platform in front of the train, waiting for Pansy and Theo to arrive.

"When have I ever not been ready?" I replied. There was no way I was going to let Blaise know how nervous I was about all of this.

"Blaise, Draco!" We turned around and saw Pansy heading towards us with Theo behind her. I nodded to them and adjusted my bag on my shoulder, getting ready to board the train.

"Look who's behind us," Theo nodded in the direction of the entrance of the platform and we all looked that way. Harry Potter was there. He was surrounded by his two friends as usual, along with the Weasely's parents, and oddly enough, Sirius Black.

"Its Black, again," Blaise commented as the group moved closer to us. Blaise motioned for us to move a little so we were closer to the group. I could hear Mrs. Weasely giving instructions typical parents would give. I rolled my eyes and our group shared a smirk. We managed to convince our parents to stay home. There's nothing more embarrassing than a bunch of seventeen year olds getting told what to do by their parents in front of everyone.

What really caught my attention was Sirius Black though. He was talking to Harry, the both of them were occasionally laughing at something Mrs. Weasely said. The train's horn blared, signaling that it was time to board. My group all exchanged shocked looks when we saw Black give Potter a hug before he boarded the train.

"Hey, when you get with him, try and find out what's with him and Black. It's made me really curious," Pansy commented as she boarded the train first, leading us all to our usual compartment at the back of the train.


	3. Chapter 3

"So, how's seducing the savior of the wizarding world going?" Pansy asked a couple of weeks into school. I grimaced at her and she knew immediately that things weren't going so well.

"Draco, it's the middle of September," she said. "You have the rest of September and October to get him to like you. By November, you should have asked him out already, otherwise, you won't be in the relationship for an entire month before Christmas break. I can't afford to lose ten galleons, Draco."

"Why do you care so much?" I raised an eyebrow at her. "You could easily spare the ten galleons."

"Not right now, I can't," Pansy replied. "My parents are going on about teaching me the value of money or something. So I have to live off of what I have. So that extra money could come in handy. So go out there and win Potter over!"

"It's not that easy, you know!" I snapped. "The only times I _do_ see him are in the Great Hall and during classes. I can't approach him during meals with his entire house staring at me. And in classes he's too busy ignoring me. He _hates _me. I don't know what the hell possessed me to agree to this stupid bet."

"Well, you can't back out now," Pansy left me and I glared at her back.

I sighed and pushed myself off of the couch I was laying down on. I might as well go down to the library and make an attempt at my homework. I spotted Potter coming out of the library when I made a turn. He was carry about five or six books. This could be my chance.

"Need some help, Potter?" I asked as I reached him. He looked up at me and glared.

"What do you want, Malfoy?"

"I was just offering my help, Potter. No need to be so testy."

"Why do you want to help me?" He almost dropped the books in shock that I was being nice to him. Even I had a hard time believing that I was actually doing this.

"Is it so wrong to want to be your friend, Potter?" I asked as coolly as I could. "This stupid war is over now, so can't be just be friends? Or at least be civil with each other?"

He seemed to think about it for a while before he finally agreed. "Fine, we can be friends, Malfoy."

"I thought friends called each other by their first name, _Harry_," I smirked and put extra emphasis in his name.

"Okay then, _Draco_," He shifted his hands around and dropped one of his books. I reached down and picked it up.

"I told you that you needed help," I reached over and pulled two more books out of his hands. He smiled his thanks at me. He looked good when he smiled. "Where are you going, anyway?"

"The lake," Harry replied, already walking down the hall. I followed him. "Hermione's been bugging me to do my homework so I finally decided to start to get her to shut up. But, the library's way too quiet for me. I figured the lake would be a good place to work. You don't have to follow me."

"I think I will anyway. I was planning on finishing up my homework, as well." And, this gives me a good opportunity to spend time with you. "Where are your friends? Aren't you always surrounded by them?"

"Yeah," Harry made a face. "But Ron needs some serious help for transfiguration and Hermione decided to help him. It feels good to finally be alone actually."

"Why did you hang around them so much if you hated it then?"

"I didn't hate it. I just…" We walked out the front of the castle and he looked up at the sky as if to find the right word written in the sky or something. "I like being around them, they're my best friends. But, they're at the point where they both realize that they like each other but can't seem to bring themselves to do anything about it. Everyone can tell that they love each other; or, everyone except them. It's annoying being around them when they're like that."

"Well, Weasely is an idiot and Granger can't be smart at everything." I smirked and liked how he smiled at what I said. I've decided that I like it when he smiles. "Why don't you hang out with your other friends then? Surely those two aren't your only friends."

"They're not. But since the summer everyone has been staring at me differently. Ever since the war ended I feel like a bigger freak than before." There was a bitter smile on his face when he said that. "I just want to be around someone who doesn't see me as some kind of hero or something. I want to be _normal._"

"I'll treat you as normal," I said as we took seats next to the lake. He smiled at me again. At least he's comfortable around me. Maybe this won't be as hard as I thought it would. "Speaking of the summer, I saw you at the Ministry, during the trials."

"Oh yeah, I remember seeing you there, too. Your dad got off alright, didn't he?"

"Of course. He _was _innocent." I saw him roll his eyes and me and couldn't help but smile. It's weird how comfortable I feel around him all of a sudden. "But, what I want to know is why _you _were there and with _Sirius Black._"

"Sirius is my godfather," Harry replied with a shrug. I could feel my jaw dropping at that piece of information. I stared at him in disbelief.

"Godfather?" He nodded. "But, wasn't he the reason that Voldemort killed your parents? Didn't he betray them and lead him to your home? Didn't he kill Peter Pettigrew, who was like, his best friend, and all those muggles? There was nothing left but a finger."

I noticed an angry look in his eyes when I said that. "No he didn't." He replied. The light tone in his voice was gone. "He was framed. Peter Pettigrew was an unregistered animagus—a rat. He tore off his own finger, killed those muggles, and changed into a rat and hid in the sewers. He framed Sirius."

"I never knew that," I placed a hand on his shoulder and he relaxed a little. "I'm sorry… I thought… I never knew…"

"It's alright, Draco," Harry smiled at me again. "You didn't know. So, where are your friends today?"

"They should be out by the quidditch pitch. Tryouts are coming up for the Slytherin team so they want to work out some stuff."

"Shouldn't you be there? Being team captain and all,"

"I didn't feel like it," I shrugged. "And, Blaise knows how to handle the team. All I'm really interested in are the people who are trying out anyway. Aren't the Gryffindor tryots soon as well?"

"Yeah," Harry grimaced. "It's hard to find new beaters and chasers. The original team was just perfect."

We pulled out our books and worked in silence for a while. I looked up after about the fifth sigh from Harry. "What the hell are you sighing about, Potter?"

"Oh, sorry," He gave me a sheepish grin and blushed. He looked almost…cute. "Potions really isn't my best subject. I'm just trying to figure something out."

I grabbed the parchment he had been writing on and frowned as I tried to decipher his messy handwriting. "You know, Harry, if you wanted, I could tutor you in potions."

"Really?"

I shrugged and crossed some things out and added a few things. "Sure, next to Granger, I'm the best student in there."

"You don't mind?"

"Not at all; We _are_ friends now after all." I looked at him and gave him what I hoped was a charming smile. "And, judging by this," I held up the parchment. "You could use a lot of help."

"Thank you!" Before I could say anything, Harry had his arms around me and was hugging me tightly. This feels nice. Wait, did I just think that?

"Sorry about that," Harry pulled away and grinned at me, his cheeks were slightly pink. "It's just that I really need to do well in this class and I'm absolutely miserable in it. I'd ask for help from Hermione but she isn't he best of tutors."

"Don't worry about it," I smiled at him and started explaining our potions homework.


	4. Chapter 4

"Where were you?" Blaise asked as I walked over to our usual spot in the common room.

"I was tutoring Potter," I took my seat next to Pansy and enjoyed the warmth coming from the fire place.

"Aww, that's so sweet of you," Theo teased.

"Shut up," I glared at my laughing friends. "I'm getting him to warm up to me. If tutoring him is the only way to do it, ten so be it. I'm not about to lose this bet."

"I'm surprised that you haven't strangled him," Blaise commented. "You hate tutoring people and I hear that Potter's horrible at potions."

"He is," I replied with a shrug. "But he's not as bad to be around as I thought he would be.

"Is someone developing a crush?" Pansy raised her eyebrows at me.

"Of course not!" Even I had to admit that I sounded a little too defensive. But there's no way I can possibly like Potter. This is all just for a bet. Yeah, that's it. I'm just trying to win. "I just want to win this bet."

"Of course," Blaise had an odd look in his eyes. I couldn't place it but I could tell he was up to something. I have a feeling there was more to this bet than I know about. I stopped thinking about it and decided to focus on the task at hand first. I can bother Blaise later.

"Next weekends a Hogsmead weekend," Pansy told me.

"So?"

"You should ask Potter to go with you," she was looking at me as she said.

"I doubt Potter would just go to Hogsmead with Draco. They're barely friends," Theo pointed out. But Pansy ignored him.

"You two need to move on from homework buddies to potential boyfriends."

"I'll see what his plans are tomorrow. We're supposed to meet up so I can check his potions essay." I continued to talk to Pansy about my plans while I ignored Theo and Blaise's teasing. There's no way they'll keep teasing once I win this bet.

"I have an announcement to make," Dumbledore stood up from the staff table and everyone in the Great Hall stared at him and quieted down. My friends and I looked at him with mild interest. He never made random announcements during breakfast.

"As you all know," The Headmaster continued. "Halloween is in two weeks. We have decided, as a little treat, to hold a masquerade ball for all of you."

Whispering erupted from everywhere. From beside me, Pansy groaned about not having enough money to buy a costume. I rolled my eyes and her and looked at Potter. This could be a perfect opportunity to ask him out. Though, I did notice that the boy did not look so excited about the news as everyone else.

"Going to ask Potter?" Theo asked, following my gaze.

"I'm thinking about it." I replied already beginning to plan out how I was going to make this work.

"Well, you better hurry," Pansy pointed over at the Gryffindor table and we all looked. We were looking at a group of girls who were talking excitedly. I noticed that one of them kept glancing over at Potter.

"Wasn't she with Weasely last year?" Theo asked. I looked at the slightly plump blonde girl and vaguely remembered seeing her clinging to Weasely at one point.

"That was last year," Blaise answered. "Weasely's with Granger now."

"So she's just going to move on from Weasely to his best friend just like that?" I asked, stilling looking at…What was her name again? She was in a few of my classes but I can't remember her name for some reason. "What was her name again?"

"Lavender Brown, and I wouldn't hold it against her to jump between guys," Pansy answered. "She's really annoying. But I've been around her in enough classes to know that once she gets her hands on Potter, she isn't going to let him go. If I remember correctly, she hardly ever left the weasel alone."

"You better hurry before she sinks her claws into your guy," Blaise said with a smirk.

"Hey, Harry," I called out to him, seeing him alone before potions class. He stopped walking and waited for me.

"Hey, I'm almost done with the essay," He informed me.

"That's great, but you don't have to hurry, its not due until tomorrow." I shrugged. "Anyway, you know the ball on Halloween?"

"Yeah?" He eyed me with confusion. I felt like shifting around under his gaze but forced myself to stay still.

"I was wondering if you'd like to go with me," He remained quiet for a long time so I decided to add a little more. "You know, just as friends. Not as a date or anything."

"Err, sorry Draco," he started. Fuck, was I too late? Had that Brown girl already asked him. "I'm not sure if I'm even going. After the Yule Ball experience I've hated dances. And, well, we just started being friends, wouldn't it be weird if we went together?"

"Yeah, whatever," I shrugged, ignoring the odd feeling in my chest at his rejection. Why should I care if he didn't want to go with me? I don't care about him. This is all for that stupid bet anyway.

"Don't take it personally, Draco," Harry hurried to explain himself. I could see the apologetic look in his bright green eyes. "It's not that I don't want to go as friends with you or anything, its mostly that I don't even know if I'm going myself."

"You don't have to explain Harry," I turned away from him. "I understand. I was just asking. I'll just find someone else. It's no big deal."

"Draco, I'm…"

"I said drop it, Potter," I snapped. I saw the hurt in his eyes and almost apologized. "I'll just see if I can find someone else. It's no big deal. I'll see you during your free period to work on that essay, okay?"

I opened the door and walked to my seat without giving him another glance. Blaise gave me a questioning look but I just ignored him.


	5. Chapter 5

"How did it go?" Pansy asked when I walked into the common room after my tutoring session with Potter. Blaise and Theo looked up at me expectantly. I grumbled incoherently and Pansy groaned. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" I snapped, causing some of the other students in the room to stare at me. I turned on them. "What the hell are you guys staring at?"

"Calm down, Draco," Blaise said softly. Most people in the room had turned away in fear of my anger but I could tell that there were some idiots who were trying to eavesdrop on us. I pulled out my wand and muttered a silencing spell. Once my spell was in place, Blaise spoke again. "What happened?"

"I saw him right before potions and decided to ask him then so I could get it over with and ensure that the Brown girl wouldn't get to him before I did."

"And?" Pansy urged me.

"He said no."

"What? Why?"

"I guess not everyone can fall for your charms," Blaise teased. "This is going to be an easy twenty galleons for me and Theo."

"Shut up, it's not over yet!" Pansy retorted. She must really need that money. She was never this into a bet before. "What did Potter say exactly?"

"He said he wasn't comfortable or something because he's not even sure if we aren't close enough friends to go to a dance or something like that. I can't remember," I shrugged. "He kept trying to tell me it wasn't that he hated me or anything, it was just that he wasn't so sure he was even going? I don't know. He wasn't making much sense."

"If I have to spend all my money on a stupid outfit for that ball, then I can't afford to lose money on this bet!" Pansy said miserably. I stared at her in disbelief. Was the money all that she really cared about? She must have noticed my look because she continued. "Don't get me wrong, Draco, I'd be more than happy to help you with any rejection you face. But this rejection shouldn't matter, right? This is just a game between us, isn't it?"

"A game, yeah," I replied. That was all this was about, wasn't it? I'm only upset because I came close to losing this bet. It doesn't matter if he really rejected me. This is just a stupid bet. Yeah, that's it. It's just a bet.

"Wait, so you still went to tutor Potter even though you turned me down?" Theo asked in disbelief.

I shrugged again. "Yeah. He kept trying to apologize the whole time though. Probably though he hurt my feelings or something like that."

"He's too much of a good person for you, Draco." Blaise laughed. "That, or he just didn't want to lose his tutor." I laughed along with my friends but I couldn't seem to push away this nagging feeling in my chest. Potter's rejection was bothering me more than it should have been.

I walked through the halls of Hogwarts, heading to the library to meet Potter. I passed my so many excited girls. It was the Friday before the ball. Everyone was talking about going to Hogsmead tomorrow and buying some outfit or another. I glared at the ground as I continued to walk. All the excitement was starting to annoy me. I saw Potter standing in front of the library. I stopped and hit behind a suit of armor that was nearby when I realized that he was talking to Lavender Brown.

"I'm sorry, Lavender, but I didn't actually plan on going to the ball." I heard him tell her the same thing he had told me when I asked him.

"Oh come on Harry, you can't possibly expect me to believe that." She insisted, moving closer and holding Harry's arm.

"But it's true," Harry persisted, trying to take his arm away from her.

"I'm not going to believe that," Lavender said with a huff. "I need a _real_ reason as to why you won't go with me. Not going to the ball isn't a good enough reason." Wow, she _was_ annoying.

"I, uh," Harry looked around, trying to come up with an excuse that would get her to stop. "I already have a date."

"What?" Lavender stared at him in shock. I tried to lean a little closer to them. I wanted to hear this. "Who?"

"You don't know him." Harry shifted around nervously as Lavender continued to stare at him. It looked as if she was trying to see if he were lying or not. I noticed that she hadn't reacted badly when he said him instead of her.

"Him?" Lavender mused. She put a finger to her chin and seemed to be deep in thought. I remember Pansy complaining about how Lavender and those Patil twins wouldn't shut up about Harry being bi at some point.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "I'm sorry Lavender but he asked me right after Dumbledore made the announcement. I'm sorry. If you had asked sooner…"

"I understand," she smiled at him sadly and walked over to where her friends were waiting for her. I chose that time to emerge from behind the suit of armor and walk up to Harry.

"Harry," I said in greeting. He jumped at the sound of my voice. He had not seen my approach.

"Draco, how long have you been there?" he asked.

"Not too long," I shrugged. "So, you have a date to the ball?"

"Err," Harry rubbed the back of his neck and blushed. "I only said that to get her to leave me alone. It was the only thing I could think of. I really don't have a date. I honestly don't plan on going."

"I see," I raised an eyebrow at him and had to fight the smile tugging at my lips. He looked cute when he was blushing. I sudden idea came to me and I smirked. If this works, I might have a date to the ball. "I suppose she's expecting to see you at that ball with this so called date of yours."

I saw his green eyes widen as he realized I had a point. "Crap, I didn't think of that."

I smirked and walked past him to the door of the library. His voice stopped me.

"Draco," I turned around to see him blushing and rubbing his neck nervously. He looked cute, actually. "if you didn't already find another date. And uh, your offer still, err, stands, and uh…" I decided to speak up so he didn't continue to make a fool of himself.

"Sure, Harry, I'll be your date," I said with a smirk. Maybe I will win this bet after all.


	6. Chapter 6

"How do I look?" I asked, standing in front of the mirror. Blaise, Theo, and I were in the dorm rooms getting ready for the ball. I ran a hand through my hair and looked myself over. I had dark green pants on that were so dark that it looks black. The pants were tight and showed off the shape of my legs. I had a black long-sleeved shirt on with a green tunic over it. I had a black robe with green lining to go over everything.

"You look good," Blaise commented as I combed back my hair. I picked up my mask from where it was on my bed. My mask was green as well and it covered most of my face, only showing my eyes and my mouth.

"Potter will love it," Theo added. I looked at myself in the mirror. I _did_ look good. I smirked and put my boots on before walking out the door to meet Pansy in the common room.

"I like it," Pansy said in approval after she had finished looking me up and down. "Potter has to be blind if he doesn't find this attractive."

"Where is he anyway?" Blaise asked as we left the common room and walked through the dungeons to the Great Hall where the ball was being held.

"He said he'd meet me at the front of the Hall," I replied. I heard voices as we approached the Great Hall. People were talking excitedly as they walked in. Everyone had masks on so it was hard to tell who was who. I looked around to find my date. I spotted familiar red hair that cold only be identified as a Weasely. Granger was beside him. I frowned when I realized Harry wasn't with them. Where was he? Did he just stand me up?

"Over there," Theo nudged me and pointed to a somewhat dark corner. Someone was standing there, leaning against the wall. I approached the figure who pushed himself up. he wore an outfit very similar to mine except that it was white and gray. A silver mask covered most of his face, but the emerald green eyes and unkempt hair was unmistakable.

"Harry," I said as I approached him.

"Draco," he walked closer to me and looked me up and down. I saw approval in his eyes as he smiled. "You look good."

"I could say the same for you," I smirked. I turned and we walked back towards the door where my friends were watching us.

"Why weren't you with your friends?" I asked.

"I didn't want to be a third wheel?" he shrugged and gave a small laugh. "I haven't even told them that I was going. They still think that I'm skipping the ball."

"Ah, okay," we stopped in front of my friends. "You guys all know Harry Potter. Harry, this is pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, and Blaise Zabini."

"I prefer Theo. Theodore sounds too old," Theo smiled and held his hand out for Harry to shake. Harry smiled and shook his hand. He did the same with pansy and Blaise. We've all been in the same school for seven years and I think this is the first time they've really been formally introduced.

"Let's walk in, shall we?" I offered Harry my hand and we all walked in together. The room was decorated well. There was a stage where a band was performing in the area that the staff table used to be. The four house tables were gone and instead replaced by a bunch of smaller tables that littered the room. There was also a long food table in one corner and the middle of the room was made empty to be a dance floor.

"There's a table over there," Harry said over the music and grabbed my hand and pulled me in that direction. Blaise, Theo, and Pansy followed us. On our way to the table, we passed by Lavender and her friends. She seemed to have recognized Harry and was about to approach him. She stopped when she noticed Harry's hand holding onto mine. She looked at me and didn't seem to recognize me. I gave me a triumphant smirk. Harry saw her and said hi before continuing to pull me somewhere.

The five of us sat at the table and talked about everything and anything while we watched the other students dance in front of us. It was funny how easily Harry seemed to get along with my friends. But then again, Pansy was probably only being nice to him so I can win this bet. You never know with her. We all had a laugh when Weasely fell on his face in the middle of the dance floor; even Harry had a laugh out of his best friend's humiliation. After a while, a slow song came on and Pansy kicked me under the table. She gave me a look and I understood her immediately. "Hey Harry, do you want to dance?"

"I, uh, well, I'm not much of a good dancer," Harry said hesitantly.

"I'll lead, don't worry," I reassured him and pulled him towards the dance floor. I placed my hands on his waist and he wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

"I'm glad you decided to come with me," I told him as we moved to the music. He smiled up at me.

"I'm sort of glad I came. This is fun. But, why did you ask me? We've only moved on from being enemies to sort of friends."

"Sort of friends?" I said with a laugh.

He shrugged. "I don't know what to call it. I mean, we _are_ friends, but its not like we're super close or anything."

I shrugged and turned us I a circle. "I just wanted to ask you. I don't really know what possessed me to. But you aren't that bad to be around, you know. And, I _was_ the one who offered you my friendship in our first year. You were the one who rejected me."

"You were a bastard back then," Harry laughed. I liked the sound of his laugh. "Though, you really aren't bad yourself."

Harry and I danced for a couple more songs before we went back to our table to eat. Pansy was giving me encouraging smiles while Blaise had that odd look in his eyes again—the look that said he was up to know good. At the end of the ball, we parted ways at the front door.

"Thanks Draco," Harry said before he walked away. "I had fun."

"Me, too." I said before I moved to join my friends. We walked back to the dungeons, talking about the ball. I joined in on the conversation, not realizing that this was the first time I spent time with Harry without thinking about the stupid bet.


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey Draco!" I stopped at the sound of my name being called and turned around. Harry had left the Weasel and Granger and was coming up to me. I noticed the Weasel eyeing me warily as he watched his friend approach me.

"Harry," I greeted, giving Weasely a little glare. It made him blush at being caught staring at caused him to turn away. I turned back to Harry and waited for him to catch his breath. I haven't talked to him since the ball, which was four days ago. We said hi when we passed by each other, but that wasn't really talking, now was it?

"The Gryffindors are having a party Friday night. I was wondering if you'd like to go. Its sixth and seventh years only."

"Partying with a bunch of Gryffindors?" I raised an eyebrow at him, though I was glad that he though to invite me.

"You can bring Pansy, Blaise, and Theo," Harry added with a small laugh. "I wouldn't expect you to brave the lion's den alone. And don't worry, the other houses are invited, too."

"I'll run it by the others," I told him. I liked the way his eyes lit up as he smiled at me. Wait, why was I thinking about his eyes? He was still staring at me expectantly so I pushed that thought away for now. "I'll get back to you about it later."

"Sure. Well, I have to get to herbology. Bye, Draco." He smiled at me one last time before running to join his friends.

"Was Potter just talking to you?" I turned around and saw Pansy, Blaise, and Theo walking up to me.

"Yeah, he invited us to a Gryffindor party Friday night."

"Party? Sounds like fun," Blaise answered. "Count me in."

"You want to go to a Gryffindor party?"

"Sure," Blaise shrugged. "Harry was alright when we hung out with him at the ball. And, who are we to turn down a party? We _are_ the ones who were looking for some form of entertainment this year, weren't we?"

"I'll tell Potter that we'll be there then."

"Where is the party anyway?" Theo asked. "The Gryffindor rooms? Because I've never really been there before. I don't think I even know where it is."

"You know, I don't know. Harry never said. I'll ask him about it the next time I see him."

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Pansy asked, tapping her foot impatiently.

"This is the place that Harry said," I replied, staring at the empty wall in front of me. "He called it the Room of Requirement. He said we had to walk in front of it three times while thinking about the party."

"That sounds so stupid," Pansy rolled her eyes.

"Maybe the party is over?" Theo suggested.

"It's barely eleven. Harry said the party starts at nine. I know Gryffindors aren't known to be party animals, but I'm sure their parties will last more than a couple of hours. Let's just walk in front of it like Harry said."

"You do it, then," Blaise retorted, not moving from where he was leaning against the wall. I sighed and realized that my friends weren't going to help me and I'd have to do this alone. I started pacing in front of the wall, trying not to think about anything but Harry and the party. I could feel my friends' eyes watching me and heard a few snickers. I bet I looked like an idiot doing this. I turned for the fourth time and heard a gasp. I looked up and saw a door appear on the wall that had been empty a few seconds earlier. I smirked triumphantly at them.

I opened the door and loud music came blaring out. Someone shouted telling us to shut the door before Filch or someone else heard the music. We all hurried in and looked around. The room was impressive and apparently soundproof. How had I not known it existed before? There were people all around the room, talking and drinking, and even some people in the corner dancing or playing around. I even spotted a few couples making out on some of the couches strewn around.

"This stuff is alcoholic," Blaise announced after taking a sip from a drink he took off a nearby table.

"It looks like Gryffindors know how to have fun after all," Pansy smirked and grabbed a drink. I looked around the room and was surprised to see other Slytherins in the room as well. Blaise walked over to another Slytherin 7th year, Millicent Bulstrode, while Pansy dragged Theo to the makeshift dance floor in the corner of the room.

I walked through crowds of people, occasionally saying hello to some of them, in search of Harry. I couldn't seem to find him. He had to be here, he was the one who invited me. just as I was about to give up, I spotted a familiar messy head of hair in the far corner of the room.

I saw Harry leaning against the wall. A person was standing in front of Harry, his arm keeping him trapped in the corner. As I got closer, I recognized the other person as a Hufflepuff prefect, Ernie Mc…something. I saw a panicked look in Harry's eyes and felt a feeling of protectiveness come over me. I stopped and took a step back. Why was I feeling like that?

I saw Ernie lean closer and my fists started to clench at my sides. He was standing to close to Harry. Ernie moved closer and captured Harry's mouth with his and I saw red. What the hell did he think he was doing? I saw Harry's hands push at his chest but Harry wasn't strong enough to push away the larger boy. I walked up to them and pulled him away from Harry.

"Wah are ya doin'? Ernie slurred. He was drunk.

"What are _you_ doing?" I retorted, glaring at the drunk guy. I moved to stand between Harry and Ernie. I heard Harry let out a sigh of relief. I glanced down at him and noticed that he was shaking slightly. This made me angrier.

"Harry's not yours," Ernie answered angrily. He still sounded drunk but he wasn't slurring as much.

"He isn't yours either," I put my arm around Harry's shoulders to prove that point. I felt him tense at first but he relaxed as Ernie continued to stare at us.

"You can't jus' come 'ere and take 'im from me. I was 'ere first." Ernie moved as if he was about to punch me, but he swayed and had to put a hand to the wall to keep himself from falling.

"Don't talk about him as if he's something to be owned," I glared at him and tightened my hold on Harry before maneuvering him around the drunken boy, who leaned against the wall for support.


	8. Chapter 8

"Thanks for what you did back there," Harry said once we were in a quieter place. I felt Harry moving away from me so I moved my hand from around his shoulders. I moved to sit on a nearby couch and Harry followed me.

"Don't mention it," I shrugged. I looked at him closely and saw that he was still a little shaken up. Ernie hadn't done more than kiss him, why was he being affected like this? "Harry? Are you alright? He didn't' do more than kiss you, did he?"

"No, he didn't." Harry answered. I saw him grip his knee tightly and could tell that he was forcing himself to calm down. What was wrong with him? "I just…hate drunks. It reminds me too much of my uncle when he's drunk."

"Your uncle?" I knew that Harry had been living with his muggle aunt and uncle since his parents died. There used to be rumors going around school that his relatives treated him horribly. The fact that at the start of every year he looked half starved made people believe that his relatives never fed him over the summer. But, those rumors can't be true. He's the boy who lived. And they were his relatives. Muggle or not you don't treat blood that way.

"I rather not talk about it," Harry gave me a shaky smile and stood up from the couch. I watched him walk to a table nearby that was filled with food and drinks. He grabbed a drink and smelled it before making a face and putting it down. I guess he doesn't drink alcohol either. He looked around the table and found unopened bottles of butterbeer. He grabbed two and moved back to sit with me. He handed me a bottle and I thank him.

"So where are the others?" Harry asked, trying to start up a conversation. I scanned the crowd but my three friends weren't anywhere near by.

"Last time I saw them, Blaise was talking to some people and Pansy was trying to get Theo to dance with her. Where are your friends?"

"Err, I really don't know. We were sitting on the couches near the door for a while before all the alcohol started getting to them. Then all of a sudden they start sucking at each other's faces. It was disgusting really. So I left them."

"Granger drinks?" I felt my mouth hanging open and closed it. That was no way for a Malfoy to act in front of a huge crowd of people. My father would have a fit if he found out.

"No, I don't think she realized it was in the drink," Harry shrugged. "You want to go dance or something?"

I had to stop my mouth from hanging open again as I followed him to where a group of people were dancing. Last week he had told me he hated dancing, and now he was asking me to? "I thought you hated dancing?"

"I do," Harry shrugged. "But it isn't _that_ bad. And I think I only hate ballroom dancing."

I saw Pansy holding on to a pained looking Theo when we approached the dance floor. I had to hold back a laugh at his face. He looked like he was being tortured. Pansy didn't seem to want to let him go. When the song changed, Pansy pulled Harry away from me and told him to dance with her. Theo gave him a sympathetic look as he walked towards me.

"You and Harry seem to be getting along pretty well," Theo commented as we watched Harry and Pansy dance. Harry looked hesitant at first but now he looked to be enjoying himself. I almost found myself getting jealous before I remembered who I was staring at. Why would I be jealous of Pansy? That's stupid.

"We are, aren't we?" I replied, my eyes still on Harry.

"You know, the first week of November is pretty much over. If you don't get Harry to go out with you by next week, there's no way you'll make the month to win the bet." Theo informed me. I turned to look at him. Had that much passed by already?

"I think I can pull it of," I told him confidently. "He's warming up to me a lot more now and he _did_ invite us to this thing."

"You sure are looking at him a lot," Theo observed.

"So?"

"I don't know, Draco. Are you sure this is still just a game to you? Or are you starting to see Harry as more than just a way to win money from me and Blaise?"

"This is just a game to me," I told him. But my thoughts begged to differ. _Was_ it still a game? Yes, it was… wasn't it? I don't have feelings for Harry. "I don't have feelings for the guy. The only reason I'm even spending time with him is so I can win this thing."

"If you say so," Theo shrugged and walked off to find Blaise.

"You really didn't have to walk me," Harry told me as we walked down the corridor. The party had just ended and I decided to walk Harry back to the dorms so Ernie wouldn't try to go after him again. I always wondered where the Gryffindor rooms were; I'd be killing two birds with one stone this way.

"If I didn't walk you, who knows what kind of idiots would try to come after you?" I said lightly.

"Thanks again for that," Harry turned to me and smiled. I had to stop the smile from forming on my lips. His smile was contagious. It always made me want to smile, too; especially if he smiled because of something I did. That's…weird. Did Theo have a point? Was this really still a game to me?

"Don't mention it," A sudden idea came to me as I continued to ponder over my conversation with Theo. "Hey, Harry, are you going to Hogsmead tomorrow?"

"Oh wow," Harry replied. "I forgot it was a Hogsmead weekend. I don't know. I guess so. I don't exactly have anything planned for tomorrow."

"Would you like to go with me then?"

"You mean…as a date or something?" Harry looked at me warily. I could tell he was starting to feel uncomfortable. Stupid! I should have realized that after what happened with Ernie, he wouldn't want another person advancing on him.

"You don't have to," I answered quickly. I started talking and hoped it wouldn't push him away. "I completely understand. But, all I ask is you give me a chance. Again, you don't have to. But if you go with me tomorrow, and you have fun, then we can go out again, if you wish. If you have a horrible time, then I won't try again. I do appreciate your friendship Harry and I'm sorry if I think I want something more than just friendship. But after this date, if you realize that we can be nothing more than just friends, then I'll leave it at that."

I shut my mouth and waited for his reaction. His usually expressive eyes were blank. Did he hate me now? I must have sounded like a complete idiot with all that rambling. I should have just dropped it when I had a chance. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I just ruined everything.

"Fine." Harry finally replied after a while. I had to shake the thoughts away. Did I hear him right?

"What?"

"I said fine, I'll go with you." Harry repeated. "Well, here we are."

I looked up and saw that we had stopped in front of a rather large portrait of a fat lady in a red dress. She looked down at us and asked for the password. Harry turned to me and smiled. I smiled back. There was no way he was going to say the password in front of me. We may have been friends, and we may be going out on a date tomorrow, but I am still a Slytherin.

"Alright, then. Goodnight Harry. I'll meet you tomorrow at the castle entrance?"

"Sure. I'll see you then."


	9. Chapter 9

I stood in front of my mirror and stared at myself. Should I just leave my hair down? Or do I gel it up like I usually do? I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I never had to work this hard with my other dates before. But Harry was different. He wasn't as easily impressed. I was about to go ask Blaise for help but realized that he was still asleep.

It was barely eight o'clock on a Saturday morning. I had been up for an hour trying to figure out what I was going to wear. After going through my entire wardrobe I decided on a dark gray turtle neck and fitting black slacks. Now, if only I could figure out what to do with my hair. Then I'll be done with my appearance and all I have to worry about was what Harry and I were going to do for the entry day. Ugh. Why was he such a complicated date?

"How long have you been up?" Theo asked, suppressing a yawn. I looked back at them then looked at the closest clock. I was shocked to see that half an hour had passed by. How had I managed to stare at myself for thirty minutes and not notice it?

"Not very," I replied. "I'm just getting ready for my date with Harry."

"Since when do you get up early to get ready for a date? You never cared so much about impressing your dates before." Theo had just repeated my earlier thoughts. he got up and started making his bed while I went back to staring at myself.

"But Harry's not as easy to impress as those other people were." I glanced at him and saw him staring at me. "Hey, should I leave my hair down or gel it?"

"Leave it down," Theo decided after a moment's though. "It looks more relaxed and carefree."

"Alright." I looked at myself one last time before finally leaving the mirror. Theo went to the bathroom to go get washed up so I decided to wake up Blaise. After both boys had freshened up, we went to the Great Hall for breakfast. Pansy was already at the table and was talking to some other girls. I sat down across from her so I could face the Gryffindor table. Granger was already there talking to the Weasely girl but the older weasel and Harry were nowhere in sight. I noticed she looked sick. I smirked. Granger, little miss perfect, had a hangover.

Breakfast was just about over by the time Harry and Weasely decided to show up. Both boys managed to grab some juice before the tables were cleared and everyone started heading for the entrance to go to Hogsmead. As I followed the crowd out the Hall, I realized that I now knew where I could take Harry on our date.

I stayed back in the hall and waited while the crowd left. When most of the students were gone, I left my friends and went to find Harry. He was staring by the door. He was wearing blue muggle pants. I believe they were called jeans? I'm not sure. I never did pay much attention in Muggle Studies. He had on an emerald green sweater that matched his eyes and black sneakers.

"Hello Harry," I greeted when I was close enough to be heard. He looked up and greeted me as well. I noticed that he had circles under his eyes. "Didn't get much sleep last night?"

"Ron kept me up," he groaned. "After you left I went straight to bed. I managed to catch a couple hours of sleep before Ron came in. He was so drunk he could barely walk. After rambling about the most random things, he threw up and passed out on the floor. The other guys were too drunk to be much help. The only other person who wasn't drunk was Neville, but he went to sleep in the common room after Dean and Seamus came in and started singing their hearts out. So after I cleaned up the stupid mess I had to get Ron to his bed, which only woke him up and started another drunken rant."

"You should have just left him on the floor," I joked after he finished with his little rant.

"I couldn't do that to him," Harry replied. "And besides, he was on the floor. I didn't need the guys tripping over him. He had a terrible hangover this morning."

"Yeah, I noticed Granger had one as well. I bet those two had fun."

"Hermione's a bit pissed because she can't remember what she and Ron did last night. Ron's in too much pain to think of anything else. I think they went back to the dorms to sleep it off." He stopped walking and stared at me. I looked back, wondering what was going on. "Hey, your hair is down."

"Oh yeah," I shrugged and feigned nonchalance "I didn't have time to gel it this morning."

"It looks good." Harry said after a while. "I like it. Uhm, Draco, where are we going?"

I made a mental note to keep my hair down a little more as I answered him. "There's a little café here. It just opened over the summer. I haven't gone there yet but Pansy recommends it. I thought we could go there for a little breakfast."

"Didn't you already eat?" Harry asked. I stopped walking when we reached the front of the café. I walked to the door and held it open for Harry.

"Yeah, but you didn't." We walked in and the waitress smiled at us. She led us to a small table for two near the back of the room. We were right in front of the window so we had a nice view of the busy street outside. The waitress handed us the menus and left.

"I don't want you to just sit around and watch me eat," Harry protested.

"Nonsense, Harry." I gave him a stern look to stop his protesting. "You need to eat breakfast. And I could go for some dessert. Pansy says this place has excellent treacle tart. Now, get anything you want. I'm paying." Harry opened his mouth to protest again so I stopped him before he could say anything. "Don't argue with my, Harry. I invited you on this date so it's only proper that I'm the one who pays for everything."

"Are you ready to order?" The waitress asked. She held a pad in her hand with a quill magically poised on it, waiting for our orders. I looked over at Harry and waited for him to pick something. He flipped through the menu but still looked uncertain. After a while I realized he wasn't going to pick something any time soon. The waitress started tapping her feet with impatience so I decided to order something for him.

"We'll have one order of chocolate chip pancakes, and two glasses or orange juice. Then for dessert can we have some treacle tart?" The quill jumped from her hand and danced across the pad, getting my order. The waitress smiled at us before taking the menus and leaving.

"Thanks," Harry replied, staring out of the window. I noticed the slight tinge of pink on his cheeks and smiled.

The rest of the day went by too quickly in my opinion. Harry and I went to numerous places in Hogsmead. We also bumped into the Weasely twins, who were planning on starting a store at Hogsmead. I learned that Harry had given them his Triwizard tournament winnings so they could start up their shop. I was amazed by his generosity. We were currently standing in front of the Great Hall where dinner was about to start. This signaled the end of our date. I had to admit that I had a lot of fun with Harry.

"Thanks for today Draco," Harry broke the comfortable silence that had befallen us since we started going back to Hogwarts.

"Thank you for accepting." I gave him what I hoped was a winning smile. "So what do you think Harry? Are we better off being just friends? Or would you like to go out again sometime?"

The smile left Harry's face and was replaced by a contemplative look. I started to feel nervous. "Well, I do enjoy being just friends…"

I felt a tight feeling in my chest that I couldn't seem to understand. Sure, I hated losing, but I doubt that I'd react like this just because I could lose a bet with Blaise. What _was_ this feeling anyway? I stopped thinking when I realized that harry was looking at me expectantly. Oh crap. I missed what he said.

"Err, I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Harry gave me a confused look before repeating himself. "I said that I like being just friends with you. But, I had a lot of fun today and I'd like to go on another date with you."

"How about we have lunch together on Monday then?"

"Sure," Harry smiled at me and I couldn't' help but smile back.

"I'll see you then," I leaned forward to kiss him but realized that I didn't want to scare him off by moving too quickly. But by the time I realized that I was already within inches of the other boy's face and I couldn't just pull back now without making myself look like an idiot. So, instead of moving to his lips, I moved to the side slightly and kissed him on the cheek. I smiled at him one last time before leaving the blushing boy and going to sit with my friends who bombarded me with questions.


	10. Chapter 10

Today was the twenty-third of November. In exactly one month, all the students would be leaving for Christmas break. If I didn't ask Harry out today, then there was no way I was going to win this stupid bet. I sighed and tried to plan this out. But, it was hard with Pansy Blaise and Theo constantly reminding me of my deadline. I sighed and left breakfast early, walking towards the Potions classroom.

I spotted Harry standing in front of the door, waiting for it to open so he could walk in. I walked up to him and he smiled when he saw me. I leaned down and gave him a soft peck on the cheek, making him blush. We had been going on dates for a straight week now, but he wasn't my boyfriend, since I hadn't asked him yet. He never had any objections to my kissing him on the cheek, so I kept doing it. I liked how he always blushed, no matter how many times I had done it already.

"What are you doing here so early?" I asked him. I went to open the door but found that it was, in fact, locked. Severus must still be at breakfast.

"I didn't want to hang around Hermione and Ron longer than I had to. It's too awkward."

"Awkward? Why? Did something happen?"

"I told them last night that you were the one that I've been seeing the past week."

I stared at him in shock. Although my friends knew about Harry, and numerous students in the school had already seen us together, I knew for a fact that Harry had never told his friends. I asked him about it one time. His friends knew that I had been helping him, and that we were friends now, but they were oblivious to the fact that we have been going on dates. I questioned him once about it and he told me that Weasely's temper is horrible and he wasn't sure how he was going to react.

"How did they take it?" I finally asked.

"Ginny and Hermione are accepting of it. Ron on the other hand…I don't know. He's been silent since I told him. He hasn't said a single word to me or anyone. He's been so deep in thought and nothing can seem to break it."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Not really," Harry shrugged. This isn't good. Now wasn't the best time to ask him to be my boyfriend, not with the possibility that his best friend could hate him for just going out on a date with me. A clicking sound came from the door and it opened. Harry and I walked in and went to our respective seats. How the hell was I going to pull this off?

"Have you asked him yet?" Pansy asked as we left the Charms classroom and made our way to lunch. Blaise and Theo stopped looking and looked at me, waiting for an answer.

"No, not yet," I replied, turning a corner. I stopped when I saw Harry in front of the Great Hall. He was with Granger and the two Weaselys. They seemed to be talking about something.

"I wonder what's going on over there," Blaise commented. We all remained where we were and watched.

Harry said something to Ron. Harry looked tentative. I remembered what he had told me before class this morning. Had Ron finally decided to say something to him? Was he angry? Ron stayed quiet before he finally replied. I wish I were closer so I could hear what was being said. Harry gave him an unsure smile before saying something again. Ron hesitated before finally answering Harry, his face filled with expressions of confusion.

Then, the Weasely girl, Ginny, moved to stand next to Harry and said something that made the boy grin and Ron blush. Harry laughed and threw his arm around her shoulders. I felt anger welling up inside me, anger that was directed at the red-haired girl.

"Relax, Draco," Pansy told me, noticing how I was glaring at the younger girl. "Let's go over there and see if we can find out what's going on."

We walked closer to the group who was still laughing; even the Weasel had stopped blushing and even joined in on the laughter. Ginny was the first one to see us approaching. She nudged Harry and he looked our way. I noticed that he looks happier than he's been all day. Was that because of the weaselette? Did she really make him happy?

"Hey, Draco," Harry greeted, his arm still around the smaller girl. She and Granger smiled at me while Ron nodded. He looked at me strangely, as if he wanted to say something to me. I looked back at him. He blushed and muttered something about dinner, before walking into the Great Hall. Hermione smiled at us before following the red head.

"I'm going to head in, too, Harry."

"Alright, I'll see you later, then," Harry took his arms off of her and I felt my fists unclenching. I had to stop myself from letting out a sigh of relief. Blaise noticed my sudden change of mood and smirked at me. I glared back.

"Harry, can we talk for a while?" I asked after Pansy gave me a pinch to get me started. "Maybe we can grab some food and go eat in the court yard?"

"Sure, that sounds great," He turned to my other friends and smiled at them. He must really be in a good mood. He hasn't' stopped smiling yet. "I'll see you guys around."

I followed Harry into the Hall and grabbed some sandwiches and a drink from one of the tables. Harry did the same. We walked out together, neither one of us talking. We reached the court yard and I took a seat on the bench. Harry sat next to me, taking a bite out of one of his sandwiches.

"What are you so happy about?" I asked, curiosity getting the best of me. Harry swallowed and looked at me.

"Ron finally decided to speak up," Harry grinned. "He's okay with it. He's still a little unsure about why I'd go out with you, but he's going to be supportive nonetheless."

"That's great, Harry," I replied. He was grinning widely now. He must care about his friends greatly. I took a deep breath and decided that now was the right time to ask. "Harry, will you be my boyfriend?"

"What?" The smile left his face for the first time. Did I make a huge mistake by asking him? Oh god, he's going to hate me now, isn't it?

I hurried to try and explain myself. "Its just that, we've been going on dates for a while now, and I really do like you… and I know this might be sudden… but I thought… I don't know what came over me… I just…"

"Draco," Harry placed a hand on my arm to stop my useless babbling. Harry chuckled and smiled at me. "Yes, I'll be your boyfriend."

"Really?" I asked, my mouth hanging open.

"Really."

"How did it go?" Pansy asked once Harry left me to go to his next class. I had a free period now so I didn't have to worry.

"He said yes," I smirked at Blaise and Theo.

"This is only the beginning Draco," Blaise replied confidently. Did he really think that I couldn't pull this off?

"One month," Theo agreed.

"Err, Malfoy?" I stopped talking and turned around to see Weasely standing there. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure," I replied, raising my eyebrows. I followed him. We didn't even leave the hall, just away from the rest of the students. He probably didn't want anyone to hear us talking. "So what did you want, Weasely?"

"Harry told us about the two of you." I fought to keep my face expressionless. Was he going to tell me to stay away from Harry? "Now, I don't really see what he sees in you, but Harry's my best mate and I'll support him no matter what. We've been through so much already and having him go out with someone I don't particularly approve us isn't going to stop our friendship."

I nodded to show him that I was paying attention and he continued. "Harry likes you enough to go out with you, so I guess you can't be all that bad; though, I have yet to see this good side of you that Harry is going on about." Ron stopped and thought about his words before he continued. "I just wanted to tell you that Harry is my best friend, and I don't want him to get hurt. If you're going to be his boyfriend, then you better make sure that you're a good one because if you hurt Harry, I'll hurt _you_. Got that?"

"Don't worry, Weasel," I replied coolly, though I definitely didn't feel it. "I won't hurt your friend. Trust me on that."

He seemed to think that was enough because he nodded and walked off. I felt an odd feeling in my chest again. I wasn't afraid of Weasely, but his little warning did strike a nerve. I saw my friends waiting for me and I thought about the bet we started. Why had what Ron said bothered me so much? Did it really matter to me if Harry got hurt when he found out about all of this?


	11. Chapter 11

"Now that the hard part is over, all you have to do is make sure you keep him for a month," Pansy reminded me for what felt like the hundredth time that day. I rolled my eyes and tuned out her talking. I pushed open the door to the Great Hall and walked over to the Slytherin table. I caught Harry's eye when I passed the Gryffindor table and he smile at me, his mouth full of food.

"Wanna bet that your boyfriend will end up choking?" Blaise joked when Pansy and I sat down. I looked over at the Slytherin table and noticed that he was eating a little too fast. He and Weasely were shoveling food into their mouths like there was no tomorrow.

"They're having quidditch tryouts after dinner," Theo informed us. "I'm guessing Harry and Weasely want to get everything ready before everyone shows up. That's why they're in such a hurry to leave here." I shook my head and started eating my dinner. At the Gryffindor table, Harry and Ron had finished eating and rushed away. There goes my plan of spending time with my boyfriend after dinner.

After dinner, I decided, with the goading of Pansy, to go to the quidditch pitch. The Gryffindors probably wouldn't like seeing the captain of their rival team show up at their tryouts, but I was willing to risk it. I could hear shouting as I got closer. I could make out Harry's voice calling out orders. He sounded frustrated. I was near the locker rooms when I saw someone land and start walking in my direction. It was Harry. I heard Weasely shouting from the sky. Harry looked up and shouted back. "Just take over, Ron! I'm done here!"

"Bad day?" I asked, moving closer to harry. He saw me and even in the semi-darkness his eyes seemed to brighten up and the scowl left his face. He seemed really happy to see me. It felt nice to know that I could make him that happy. I smiled, trying to push away the guilty feeling that had started up in my chest.

"This team is going to need a lot of work," Harry said with a pout.

"Should you be up there deciding who gets to be on the team?" I asked as I followed him into the locker rooms.

"No need," Harry replied, walking over to his locker. "I already know who I want on the team. It wasn't hard to figure out who were the best players from that lot. Ron can lead them to the basic drills. They don't need me for that."

"Why are you so muddy?" I could finally see him from the light in the locker rooms.

Harry grabbed some clothes and a towel before making his way to the showers. "The Creevey brothers are excellent beaters, very enthusiastic. But they can't aim to save their lives. They'll the damn thing to anyone who moves. They don't even bother to check if it's one of their bloody team mates or not."

"At least you have two months to whip them into shape before the season starts," I had to raise my voice so Harry could hear me from the showers. I heard the water running and waited patiently. Harry didn't take very long. He emerged from the showers after a few minutes. He was dressed in his school robes but his hair was still dripping wet.

I walked over to him and gave him what I hoped was a comforting hug. I'm not really a comforting type of person. "It's just tryouts Harry. Don't get so worked up over it. I'm sure it'll be fine."

"I hope. This is the first time that I can focus on being captain without worrying that some madman is going to come kill me. I want it to be perfect." Harry wrapped his arms around my waist and returned the hug.

"You'll be alright," I told him, placing a soft kiss on his temple. Harry pulled away and blushed, apologizing for how dramatic he was being. I laughed and told him he wasn't being the least bit dramatic. I liked how he always seemed to blush, no matter how many times I kiss him. After he said a drying spell for his hair, we left the locker rooms and went back to the castle.

We walked around for a while before we ended up in front of the Room of Requirement. We walked in and found a room with a fire place and a large couch in front of it. There was a coffee table in front of the couch that held two mugs of what I assumed was hot chocolate. Harry and I sat down and took the drinks. I got comfortable on the couch and wrapped my arm around Harry's small waist. I wonder why he's so skinny. He seems to be eating a lot.

We started talking and it felt nice. I never realized that I could have so much fun just talking to someone. The only people who didn't bore me when we talked were Blaise, Pansy, and Theo. I could never just sit around and talk to the other people that I dated before. But Harry, he was different. I enjoyed myself just being with him. It can't have just been because of this bet. There had to be something else there. We've had bets similar to this before and even then I never felt this way about anyone.

I thought back to a conversation I had with Theo earlier today. He said that I was starting to fall for Harry. I just laughed and told him that he was being ridiculous. But now that I was here talking to Harry, I don't know if I can still say that. _Was _I falling for Harry Potter?

I was taken out of my thoughts when Harry planted a soft kiss on my cheek. That took me by surprise. Except for a hug or two, Harry never did anything first. He always blushed whenever I kissed him. I looked at the smaller boy and smiled. Maybe he felt more comfortable now because we were officially boyfriends now.

I put my hand under his chin and tilted his head up. I leaned forward and placed my lips above his. His lips were soft. I moved my lips against his. Harry seemed unsure at first, but after I wrapped my arms around his waist, he relaxed and moved his lips up with mine. He wrapped his arms around me neck and I ran my tongue along his lips, asking for entrance. Harry opened his mouth and let me in.

We pulled away after a while so we could catch our breath. I almost wished we didn't have to breathe. Kissing Harry was different from kissing everyone I'd ever kissed before. His kiss left me feeling lightheaded, but that wasn't a bad thing; I liked the feeling. I couldn't begin to describe how this felt. Harry rested his forehead on my shoulder and chuckled.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Nothing," Harry lifted his head and looked at me. "If you told me in our first year that you were the first guy I'd be kissing, I would have probably hexed you into the next year."

"First guy?" That was surprising. "You've never kissed another guy before?"

"Well, there was Ernie at that party but that doesn't count," Harry grimaced and I felt the same way. "I've had crushes on other guys before, but I never really found a guy I liked enough to picture myself kissing him…except you that is."

The feeling of guilt returned. This time, it was almost overwhelming. I don't think I can go on with this bet and play with his emotions like that. But, all my thoughts of guilt disappeared when he placed his lips back on mine. The incredible lightheaded feeling returned and I lost all conscious thoughts. _Maybe_ Theo was right. _Maybe_ I _was_ falling for Harry.


	12. Chapter 12

Four weeks had gone by since I first asked Harry out. It was strange how attached I had gotten to the other boy. It was just a week ago that I had come to terms with the fact that I had indeed fallen for the Gryffindor Golden Boy. We spent as much time together as we could outside of class. Whenever I was with Harry…I couldn't even begin to describe how I felt about him. It was wonderful.

I always felt happy when I was with him. I couldn't explain it. I even spent some time with his friends. I was reluctant at first but I realized that they were fun to be around with. I had to admit that Hermione was practically a genius and I enjoyed having intellectual conversations with her. She was extremely bright and having her insight on a few things made some of my harder subjects so much easier.

And Ron and I, though we aren't the best of friends and probably never will be, we get along just fine. Though he never struck me as bright he was brilliant at wizard's chest and he and I are almost evenly matched. We currently have this ongoing chest tournament with each other. Neither of us would admit defeat and was always asking for rematches.

Harry's even spent some time with my friends, since it was only fair because I hung out with his friends. Blaise is constantly teasing Harry, making him blush whenever he can with sex jokes or something of the like. He's constantly teasing me about my possible feelings for the boy, though I refuse to admit it to him. I'm starting to think he chose Harry not just for the bet but because he knew I'd fall for the boy. Theo and Harry have gotten along quite well. Out of all my friends, Theo was the one Harry was closest to. While Blaise just teased me about it, Theo actually talked to me about Harry. Theo was the only one I told so far about actually caring for the boy.

Pansy, on the other hand, still sees him as part of this game. I wished she wouldn't take this bet as seriously as she is, but I did have something to do with it. Every time the others teased me about it I would always tell her it was nothing but a game to me. But that was before I came to accept my feelings for the boy. I haven't talked to Pansy about it after I came to that little realization. I made a mental note to tell her as soon as I can.

Whenever I wasn't with Harry and my friends reminded me of this bet I was stupid enough to accept, the guilt was almost too much for me to bear. And when I wasn't feeling guilty, I was afraid that Harry was going to find out before I had a chance to explain everything to him. Tomorrow, everyone would be leaving for winter break. I wouldn't see Harry for a few weeks because he was going to spend it with his godfather.

I sighed and tried to push these thoughts away. I kept myself busy by trying to figure out why Harry wanted to see me. I got a note from him this morning asking me to go to the lake at lunch. I haven't seen him all day since we didn't have morning classes together today. I wonder what he had planned. I heard voices as I approached the lake and was shocked to see Blaise, Pansy, and Theo there.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked, panic building up in my chest. Had Harry found out what we were doing this whole time?

"I skipped History of Magic," Pansy explained. "Blaise and Theo just came."

"Oh, okay," I sat down next to them, relieve. "Harry asked me to meet him here at lunch."

"Hmm, tomorrow makes your one month anniversary with Harry," Pansy said. "If I remember correctly, you asked him out during lunch. So in exactly twenty four hours, we officially win."

"You sound as if you already won," Theo replied.

"What could possibly happen in one day that would make Draco and Harry break up?" Pansy scoffed. "Face it, Draco managed to keep Harry as his boyfriend for a month. We won this bet. You might as well just give us the money now."

"I must say, Draco, I'm impressed," Blaise looked over to me. "I didn't think it was possible for you to keep a person for a month, let alone Harry Potter. You really earned that money."

"Money?" A soft voice asked, causing all for of us to turn around. My eyes widened. Harry was standing there. And from the shock in his face, I could tell that he had heard everything. Fuck!

"So this was all just a game to you?" Harry asked, the hurt showing in his eyes.

"Harry, wait, it's not like that…" I scrambled up and tried to walk up to him, but he took a few steps back, his expression hardening.

"No," A chill ran down my spine. I had never heard him sound so cold before.

"Harry, wait, please," I pleaded.

"No," Harry replied more firmly, glaring at me. "I'm tired of you messing around with me, _Malfoy_." I felt a sharp pang in my chest when he spat out my name as if it were poison.

"I can't believe that I was stupid enough to believe that you could ever change. I can't believe I was stupid enough to fall for you!" Harry was screaming now. I glanced back at my friends for help but they still looked like they were in shock.

"Harry…" I didn't know what to say, I really didn't. I couldn't deny it all because it _was_ true. And I'd be stupid to lie to him now. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop the stinging in my eyes that could only mean that tears were coming. I tried to think of something to say but Harry turned and ran off. I let out a small sob and sank to the ground.

"Draco," Pansy said softly, kneeling down next to me. "You really cared about him, didn't you?"

I saw the shock in her eyes. While Blaise and Theo continued to tease me about falling for the other boy, Pansy was the only one who truly believed this was still a game to me. I made her believe it was just a game to me. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Pansy placed her hand on my shoulder and looked at me, waiting for an answer. I could only nod. I was afraid that if I spoke, I'd actually break down and cry. I couldn't do that, not in front of my friends.


	13. Chapter 13

"Draco, you have to get up, it's getting dark," Pansy laid a hand on my shoulder, trying to get me up. We were still at the lake. I have no idea how long it's been since Harry ran off but it was getting dark now. I couldn't bring myself to get up and go back to the castle. It would be painful seeing Harry again after this. And who knows what Ron has planned for me. He'll probably murder me the minute I set foot in that castle.

"I don't want to go back!" I practically whined. Blaise, with the help of Theo, managed to get me to stand up. They started pulling me towards the direction of the castle. I didn't try to stop them, but I didn't make it easy for them either.

"Draco, we'll help you get him back, don't worry." Pansy reassured me. She could see how distressed I was. After she got over the initial shock of me liking Harry, she started trying to comfort me. All the comfort in the word wasn't going to be enough to help me get over how miserable I was. I hated this.

"You can't go around acting all miserable," Theo added. "If anyone has the right to be miserable its Harry; you have to work on finding a way to win him back."

"He's right," Blaise nodded. "We'll get through this, don't worry."

When we arrived at the Great Hall, dinner had already started. I glanced over at the Gryffindor table but didn't see Harry there. I noticed Hermione and Ron were giving me weird looks. I don't think they know what happened just yet. I sat down and picked at my food, not really hungry.

I boarded the Hogwarts Express, trying to find Harry. I haven't seen him at all and I was starting to worry. We were walking to the back of the train, to our usual compartment when something ahead caught my eye. It was a familiar head of windswept hair. It was Harry. I pushed past some people and hurried to reach him.

"Harry!" I called out. He stopped and turned. But when he saw me, his eyes hardened and he glared. "Harry, wait, please?"

I moved closer to him. He turned and walked towards the closest compartment, going inside. I was about to follow him but had to stop because I didn't want my hand cut off by the shutting compartment door. I head the sound of the door locking and the shades over the curtain moved shut. I slumped. He wasn't going to listen to me.

"Malfoy!" I turned around to see a very angry Ron. I gulped, knowing what was about to happen. "What the hell did you do to him? He hasn't talked to anyone since he went to meet you yesterday. He hasn't' even eaten since then. What the hell did you do to him? I told you not to hurt him!"

I opened my mouth, trying to explain to Ron what was going on. I never had a chance to tell him anything because just as the words were about to leave my mouth, a sharp pain was at my nose. Ron had punched me. I fell back, the wall of the train keeping me up. I felt something warm running down my nose. I moved my hand up to my nose and put it in front of my face. Blood; my nose was bleeding. Ron lifted his arm for another punch. I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact. It never came.

I opened my eyes and saw Hermione looking at Ron disapprovingly. She looked my way and I was about to thank her, but stopped at the look in her eyes. She may have stopped Ron from hurting me, but it wasn't because she didn't want me hurt. They pushed past me and knocked on the door of the compartment that Harry was in. After a while, it opened and they walked in.

"Are you alright?" Blaise asked, walking up to me. I turned and looked at him. He, Pansy, and Theo were giving me worried looks. I also noticed that there were a lot of other students who were looking at me. I wiped the blood of my face and walked off knowing that my friends would follow me.

I spent the rest of the train ride to Platform nine and three quarters in silence. Blaise, Pansy, and Theo had tried to get me to talk to them, but I just wouldn't. They tried to keep my mind off what happened by trying to engage me in conversations and games, but I couldn't keep my mind off of Harry.

"Draco, I can see the platform," Pansy informed me. "You should get the blood off of your shirt. Your parents might worry."

I glanced down and saw that there was blood on my shirt. I sighed and pulled my wand out of my robes. I muttered a quick cleaning spell and my shirt looked good as new. I took the mirror Pansy was holding out to me and looked at my appearance. There were small traces of blood still on my face. I hadn't bothered to clean up after we got into the compartment. After making sure that not a hair was out of place, I handed Pansy the mirror and picked my bag up off the floor.

I stepped off the train and saw my parents standing there, waiting for me. I pushed the trolley holding my trunk and walked up to them. My mother enveloped me in a tight hug and my father put a hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. My father was never one to show too much emotion in public.

Over my mother's shoulder I saw Sirius Black and Remus Lupin searching the crowd. It took me a second before I remembered that Harry was staying with Black now. I saw Harry walk up to them and give them both a hug. He was smiling. I noticed that his eyes didn't seem to light up like they usually did when he smiled. I felt a sharp pang of guilt hit me. This was all my fault.

"Draco, are you listening?" My mother's voice took me out of my guilt laced thoughts.

"I'm sorry, mother, can you repeat that?" She and my father gave me strange looks. It wasn't like me to be like that.

"I said that this is the first Christmas since the defeat of the Dark Lord, and your father and I have decided to host a Christmas party at the manor as a sort of celebration. Just about everyone will be invited. It'll be the biggest social event of the year. Doesn't that seem like fun?"

"Yes, mother," I nodded. My mother loved hosting parties. She liked organizing just about any kind of event. She was good at it, too. All her social events were the talk of the wizarding world for weeks. My father called one of our house elves, who came and took my trunk back to the manor. My parents started weaving through the crowd, my mother still going on about her party ideas, while I followed them.

"Hello, cousin," My mother greeted someone. Cousin? My mother had never told me about her cousins. She said her only cousins were either dead or were disowned because they were a disgrace to the family name. I looked up to see who she was talking to and saw Sirius Black looking at us. I almost smacked myself for being stupid. Sirius _Black_; my mother's maiden name was Black. How could that little piece of information have slipped past me?

I looked behind Black to see Lupin and Harry watching them. I stared at Harry, hoping he would look back at me. It worked. He noticed me staring at looked back at me. At first, I saw sadness in his eyes—or, I thought it was sadness. I couldn't be too sure because it was replaced by anger and hatred. I had to stop myself from fidgeting under his gaze.

"It's nice to see that you're out of Azkaban," My mother continued her small talk. She looked behind Black and saw Harry for the first time. "Mr. Potter! I didn't see you there. I believe I have yet to bid you congratulations. And of course thank you for what you have done for us."

"I, err…" Harry blushed. I knew he hated the attention he got for defeating Voldemort.

"Now, I was planning a bit of a celebratory party on Christmas eve," My mom continued. "Of course we can't celebrate the defeat of the Dark Lord without our savior, now can we? You'll come, won't you?"

That caught my attention. If Harry came to the party then I'd have a chance to talk to him. I didn't think I'd be seeing him at all during the break. I prayed to whoever was listening that Harry will accept.

"What are you doing with Mr. Black?" My father asked, stopping Harry from having to answer my mom.

"He's my godfather, sir." Harry replied in a polite voice.

"Brilliant!" My mom practically squealed, if it was possible for a Malfoy to squeal. "Sirius and I have a lot of catching up to do, being the only members of the Black family still alive."

"Don't forget Tonks, Narcissa," Sirius reminded her.

"Who?"

"Um, Nymphadora," Sirius clarified. "She's still around, in case you've forgotten."

"Oh, dear, I almost did," my mother looked shocked. "Well, anyway, we really must be going. Lucius has to get back to the Ministry. He only came now to follow me to meet, Draco. Now, we'll see you on Christmas Eve then? And, also, you must stay for Christmas day, too. We need to catch up. A family reunion of sorts; bring Nympadora, too."

"I, err, okay," Sirius barely managed to answer before we walked off. I stared at my mom. She had a talent for getting people to do what she wanted. There was something about the way she says things that makes it hard for you to say no to her.

As I followed my parents through the crowed, I smiled, feeling the best I've ever felt since Harry had heard us talking. I was going to see Harry during the holidays after all. I still had a chance to make it up to him.


	14. Chapter 14

I got home and went up to my room. I found my trunk already there. I went to lie down on my bed. My father had gone back to work at the ministry and my mom set about to getting all of the stuff ready for the party. I stared at my ceiling, trying to come up with a way to get Harry back. It had to be perfect.

I grabbed a pillow and hugged it close to me as I thought about the dark haired boy. My eyes started to sting and tears were threatening to fall. Today was supposed to be our one month anniversary. I bit my lip and blinked my eyes to make sure the tears didn't fall. Even in the privacy of my own room I couldn't bring myself to cry. It was painful to think that I could have been celebrating this day with Harry.

My eyes widened and my thoughts went away Harry for a moment. Today was the twenty-third, which means tomorrow was the twenty-fourth. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve, tomorrow was my mother's party. Harry was coming here tomorrow. Shit! I had to think of something quick.

"Draco! Pansy's here," My mom's voice came from downstairs. I walked out and went to the sitting room, where Pansy was waiting for me.

"My mom's helping yours put the finishing touches to this party," Pansy explained, standing up from her seat on the sofa. "Want to go shopping for last minute Christmas gifts?"

"Yeah, I have to find something to give, Harry." Pansy raised her eyebrow at me. "He won't even give me time to say a word before he walks off. I'm hoping that a present might warm him up a little. At least buy me enough time to explain myself."

"I'm pretty sure he isn't the type of person who'll be won over by gifts." Pansy said skeptically as I pulled her out of the room and I told me mom where we were going.

"Draco! We've been walking around for hours. Can't you just find something already?" Pansy whined as I pulled her into yet another shop. This one was a jewelry store.

"I can't just give him anything, Pansy," I told her, looking through some of the displays. "It has to be something special."

"What counts as special, anyway?" Pansy asked, walking around the room.

"I don't…" I stopped when something caught my eye. I walked up to the glass counter and stared at the necklace inside. It was a silver dragon pendant on a thin silver chain. It was beautiful and well made. All the details were showed perfectly. And, it had two tiny emeralds for its eyes. It reminded me of Harry's eyes.

"Wow, that's pretty," Pansy commented, walking behind me. "You should get it. It'll be the perfect gift."

"You think?" I called over the clerk and asked her to take out the pendant. I held it delicately in my hand, turning it over slowly. The craftsmanship was incredible.

"Yeah, dragon could symbolize you. And the eyes match his. It'll be great. I'm sure he'll love it."

"I'll get it," I told the clerk, handing her the pendant back so she could wrap it up for me.

"Will this really work?" Pansy asked skeptically.

"I don't know, but I'm willing to try anything."

Harry:

"I don't want to go!" I whined, plopping down on the couch. I know I sounded like a brat, but I really didn't want to go to that stupid party. This winter holiday was supposed to be my time away from Draco. Even though I realized that I was just part of some stupid bet with him, I still found myself unable to hate him. He actually got me to fall for him. Ugh!

"Harry, you have to go," Sirius responded. "They're throwing the party in honor of your victory. And they did say they were inviting."

"But do we really have to spend Christmas with them, too? This is our first Christmas together as like, a family and stuff. We should spend it together."

"Technically, Narcissa is family. She _is_ Sirius's cousin," Remus said, taking a seat on the couch across from me. "And, what harm can it do? It's not like they're going to try and destroy you while you're there. And, we'll be there with you."

Why does Remus always have to be so damn persuasive? I opened my mouth to argue but the looks one their faces told me that they were sure about this already. I glared and stomped up the stairs to my room. I know I was being bratty, but I couldn't help it. I was supposed to be away from Draco this winter damn it. I was supposed to use this time to get over him!

"Harry," I looked up and saw Sirius standing in my doorway. "What's the matter? I thought you were dating Draco Malfoy now? I'm surprised you don't want to spend time with him."

"We had a fight on the train earlier," I lied, lying down on my bed and staring at the ceiling. There was no way I could speak with a straight face if I looked at Sirius. I couldn't tell him about what happened with Draco.

"It'll be alright," I felt the bed dip down where Sirius sat on it. "All couples fight. Remus and I fight all the time but we always make up in the end. It's only normal."

"I guess," I replied. _This_ wasn't normal. I doubt Remus ever went out with him because he wanted to win a stupid bet with his friends. Stupid bet, stupid friends, stupid Draco!

"Remus and I are going into the town to find something we can buy as a gift for Narcissa. Would you like to come along?"

"No thanks," I grumbled, turning over to lie down on my side. "I just want to rest. I'm tired."

Once I heard my door closing, I got up and went to my trunk. I might as well unpack my things. After the first layer of clothes, there was a wrapped package. It was rectangular and wrapped in simple black paper. There was a simple silver bow on it. I picked up the package and stared at it for a while. It was the present I got Draco. I knew I wasn't going to see him over the holidays so I decided to give it to him so I could see his face when he saw my gift. That was the day I overheard them at the lake. But instead of me surprising him, I got the surprise. I sighed and put the package back into my trunk. I walked over to my bed and decided to sleep after all.

"Harry!" Someone was pounding on my door and shouting my name. I groaned and sat up. What time was it? I looked out the window and noticed how bright it was. I must have slept through the night. I walked to the door and saw Hermione and Ron there.

"Well it's about time!" Hermione exclaimed. "Sirius and Remus sent us to get you ready before we all go to Malfoy Manor."

"What time is it?" I asked before what she said finally sunk in. "Wait, you guys are going to the party, too?"

"Weird, isn't it?" Ron commented, walking into my room. "I never thought I'd see the day they let the entire Weasely family and muggle-borns into their place."

"Mrs. Malfoy really is going all out, huh?" I started looking through my closet for something to wear. I hate this. I don't want to see Draco!


	15. Chapter 15

Draco:

I woke up extra early today. Tonight was the night of the party. My mother had told me that Sirius Black was coming early, which would mean that Harry was coming early, too. I put on a pair of dark blue pants and a light blue sweater. I walked downstairs and joined my parents for breakfast.

"Must you go to work today?" My mother asked my father. I reached for some toast and spread butter all over it before taking a bite. I listened to my parents talk. "We still have so much to do before the party."

"I thought you had everything figured out already?" My father answered, taking a sip out of his drink. "And besides, I won't be gone very long; just a few hours to straighten some things before everyone leaves for Christmas. And your cousins will be here soon enough. I'm sure they can help you."

That was how the rest of breakfast went. My mother continued on about her plans for tonight, and then my father went to tell us what he had to do today. It's safe to say that it was a particularly boring conversation. I didn't listen as I continued eating my breakfast. I heard a sound that meant that someone was at the door. It was probably Harry. I wanted to get up to answer the door but that would get too many questions from my parents. So, I sat in my seat, trying to look calm and uncaring as I waited for one of the house elves to get the door and bring our guests into the dining room.

"Sirius, it's nice of you to join us. Would you like some breakfast?" My mother greeted when the group walked in. I saw Sirius Black and Remus Lupin in front of the group. Behind him was a woman I assumed was my mother's cousin Nymphadora. She caught my attention for a while. She had short bright bubble gum pink hair that was shooting out in random places. It looked almost like Harry's hair, but more tamed.

Behind her was Ron and Hermione; they both looked around awkwardly, not sure what to do. Ron saw me looking at him and glared at me. I looked away from him before I gave him any ideas. I really didn't need him beating the crap out of me in front of my parents. Hermione gave me a look as well. Though it wasn't as threatening as Ron's, I knew she was capable of hurting me if she really wanted to. She _did_ hit me back in third year.

And there, in the back of the entire group, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else was the person I was looking for. Harry slouched, his hands in his jeans pocket. I wanted so badly to go over to him and sweep him into my arms and apologize to him. He was looking around the room, at the people he was with, at my parents, at just about everything but me. He refused to meet my gaze.

"I should be going now," My father stood up from his seat. After bidding a quick goodbye to everyone in the room, he went to the den to floo over to the ministry. I pushed my plate away, standing up from my seat.

"Draco, why don't you take your friends to your wing while us adults here have a little chat?" My mother suggested. I saw Ron and Harry wince at the word 'friends'. I guess we weren't friends anymore. I wanted to argue, but the four adults in the room were looking at me, waiting for my answer.

"Sure, mother," I replied, walking to the doorway. I noticed that Harry took a step away when I neared him. It pained me to see him like that. I knew I screwed up, but did it really affect him that much? I walked past them and up the stairs. I could hear their footsteps following me. I didn't to look back until I reached my wing of the house.

My room was in the west wing of the manor. Being an only child meant I had the whole place to myself. My mother and father were in the east wing. The north wing held the guest rooms while the south wing was mainly to hold all of my mother's social events. I walked to my room at the end of the hall, occasionally pointing out rooms as I passed them.

"That door over to your right is my work room for when I feel like brewing potions. And next to it is my bathroom if you need it." I pointed, though I knew they were probably ignoring me. I continued anyway. "The door on the left is a mini library of sorts. It's mainly just my books. My father has his own library for his stuff. Next to it is the drawing room."

I glanced behind me to check on my guests. They were walking together, slightly away from me. Ron and Hermione were looking around at the various portraits on the wall. Harry just stared at the ground and walked forward. I miss seeing him smile.

We reached the end of the hall so I stopped walking. They did the same. Right ahead of us was a large window, looking out to the gardens outside. "To the right is my room. And the door opposite of it is a guest room in case I have friends come over."

"Draco!" a voice called behind us. I turned around and saw Blaise walking up to us; finally, someone who wasn't trying to ignore me. I smiled at him. He greeted the three Gryffindors. Hermione said hello to be polite, Ron mumbled something, and Harry just glanced up, acknowledging Blaise, before going back to staring at his shoes.

I opened the door to my room and walked in, knowing that the others will follow me. Blaise was the first one in. He plopped himself on my bed, making himself comfortable. The other three sat down on a couch on one side of the room. I smacked Blaise to tell him to move over and sat down on the bed. No one said anything. The tension in the room was starting to bother me. I stared at my lap, trying to think of something to break the tension, but nothing came to mind.

Harry:

I leaned back on Draco's couch and continued staring at my shoes. I bet I could draw them with my eyes shut. I've been staring at them since we came to the manor. I sighed and decided to finally look around the room. Draco's bed was at the far end of the room. There was a bedside table next to it. On the other side of the bed was a large closet. At the foot of his bed I could see his Hogwarts trunk. The couch that we sat on was against the left side of the room. Across from us was a desk with some books on it. Next to the desk was a bookshelf. He had a bookshelf in his room and a separate library? How many books could one person possibly have? There was another shelf near his bed filled with random things I didn't know.

His room was pretty plain looking to me. There wasn't much stuff around it, but you could tell that everything in it was expensive. I looked over to Ron and Hermione and noticed that they were inspecting the room too. I took a chance and glanced over at the two Slytherins. Draco was sitting on his bed, staring at his lap. He looked deep in thought. Blaise was lying down on the bed, with his hands under his head. He was watching me, Ron and Hermione.

I shifted around in my seat. The tension in the room was making me nervous. Why wouldn't anyone say something? I had my reasons for not wanting to speak, and I doubt Ron could say anything without insulting the other two. Hermione was the one who insisted we come here and made sure we acted civil and she wasn't saying anything either. Draco looked too nervous to speak, but he was probably just upset that I found out about his stupid bet and he lost money. Blaise, if I remember correctly, bet against him. So he was probably pretty satisfied with himself for winning. I wonder how much they bet… Wait, I shouldn't' be thinking about that. It doesn't matter how much money was involved, I still hate them for using me as part of some game.

"Harry, can I have a word with you?" Blaise asked, pushing himself up off the bed. He walked to the door, waiting for me to follow. Ron and Hermione gave me curious looks but I only shrugged. I didn't know what Blaise wanted with me. Draco didn't seem to know either because he was staring at Blaise questioningly. I stood up and followed him. He led me to the guest room opposite of Draco's and closed the door behind us.

"Harry, I know you're upset," He started. I felt anger rushing through me.

"Upset? I'm more than just upset! I trusted you guys and I find out that just part of some stupid game to you guys. I'm beyond upset." I snapped.

"Harry, calm down and just hear me out, please?" Blaise pleaded. I nodded for him to continue. "This bet was all my idea."

"What?"

"Don't interrupt," Blaise told me. I closed my mouth and silently fumed. "I started this bet because I knew that it was the only way I could get Draco to approach you. At Theo's birthday over the summer, Draco got drunk and he told me that he thought you were absolutely sexy. Those were his words, not mine," I had to fight the blush coming to my cheeks. Blaise seemed to notice and smirked at me before he continued.

"Anyway, the next day, Draco didn't remember a single thing. I mentioned you to him a few times but he went on about how much he didn't like you. But I realized that he didn't really mean those things. Draco and I have been friends for as long as we can remember. I know him better than anyone. So I know when he's lying to me. And I realized that whenever it came to you, Draco acted different. It reminded me of how younger kids like to make fun of people they have crushes on because they don't know how else to express it. I realized that Draco had developed a crush on you, but he didn't know it yet because the two of you have spent the past six years fighting with each other. And Draco's too stubborn too see things sometimes.

"The next day, we all met up at Diagon Alley, and I saw you walk into the Weasely's shop, which was right across from where we were. Then the others go on about how they wanted this year to be interesting, so the idea of the bet came to me."

"What are you trying to say?" I was confused. I took a seat on the bed and thought over everything he had just told me. Blaise took a seat next to me.

"I'm trying to say, Harry, is that Draco _does_ care for you. I might even go so far as to say he loves you. You guys are a perfect match for each other. I know this bet wasn't a good way to deal with all of this, but it was the only way I could think of to get Draco to spend time with you other than locking you two up in a broom closet together."

"But, he only spent time with me because of this bet," I argued. I liked the idea of Draco actually caring for me, but I didn't want to get my hopes up only to have it crashing down around me.

"Draco is more stubborn than anyone I know," Blaise said with a small laugh. "He would have never admitted to his feelings for you unless he knew that it was one hundred percent true. And the only way for him to realize his feelings for you were if he actually spent time with you. The two of you have been at each other's throats since you first met so there was no way Draco would know how to act around you. So with this bet, it gave him a reason to actually go up to you and get to know you more, which will then lead to him to realize that you were more than just a rival to him."

Blaise said everything in such a factual voice that I couldn't help but believe that what he was saying was true. I was having a mental war inside my head. Part of me wanted to believe every single word Blaise said. It wanted me to forgive Draco for this and get back together with him. But another part of me kept reminding me that Draco had hurt me and if he was willing to play around with my emotions just for a little money—which he really didn't need—then that means that he doesn't really care for me. I was so confused.

"Look, I know you might not believe me, and I don't blame you, we did play around with you. But please try to believe me when I say it wasn't just a game to Draco. Sure, at first, he thought it was, but I could tell that it became more than just that after he spent time with you. He may have been nice to you because he wanted to win, but this isn't the first bet we had that was like this. And Draco never acted that way with the other people. Draco's been more caring towards you than to anyone I've ever seen him with before. And he was miserable when you ran off after you found out. I've never seen him so torn up before."

Was that true? I remember Draco trying to talk to me after I had found out but I was too angry to really pay attention to how he looked. I hadn't seen him again after that because I was avoiding him. But, he did come after me in the train. He wanted to talk to me. He said he wanted to explain or something? I don't remember.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you telling me all of this?" I asked, looking over at Blaise.

"Because Draco is my best friend and I saw how happy he was when he was with you. And, because it was bad judgment on my part—I should have known better than to try to get you two together through a bet. I should have just locked you two up in a closet somewhere."

I couldn't help the laugh that came out when he said that. Blaise grinned at me.

"So do you forgive Draco? And us for going along with this bet?" Blaise asked. I thought about it.

"No," Blaise's face fell. He opened his mouth to say something but I stopped him. "I sort of understand where you were going with this Blaise, but I can't just forgive you guys lke there was nothing there. It still hurts to find out that you guys were playing around with me. I had even come to think of you guys as real friends. Now, I _will_ forgive you, but just give me some time to get over it and let the hurt die down a little."

"Okay," Blaise nodded. "But what about Draco?"

"What hurt the most was Draco," I said sadly. "And I _want_ to forgive him and just get over all of this, but I _can't_; not this easily. I need time for that to. And as much as I appreciate you telling me all of this, I want to hear it from Draco. And please, don't tell him that. I want him to figure out on his own."

"Understood," Blaise and I stood up and walked back out into the hall.

Blaise turned to me to say one last thing before we entered Draco's room. "But please keep in mind that Draco can be really stupid and slow sometimes. I ask in advance that you forgive him for taking forever on this."

"I'll keep that in mind," I laughed and walked in the room with Blaise, attracting the attention of the three people in the room.


	16. Chapter 16

I looked up at the sound of laughter. Harry's laughter. I turned to the door and saw Blaise holding the door open for Harry, who was laughing at something he said. Where had those two gone? What were they doing? Harry looked so glum the entire time he was here and then Blaise takes him outside for a little talk and now he's laughing? I felt jealousy welling up inside me. But I was being stupid for being jealous. Blaise may be a flirt, but he would never go after Harry because he knew I liked him, right?

I gave Blaise a questioning look but he just smirked at me. I growled in frustration. That smirk was Blaise Zabini for 'I'm not telling you anything'. I looked at Harry, who still wouldn't even glance at me. He _did_ look slightly happier. What the hell did Blaise say to him? This was going to be a long day.

After an hour, we went back downstairs. The whole time, I sat on my bed stealing glances at Harry, silently praying that he will look my way. He never did. Blaise managed to engage Ron in a game of wizard's chess and that kept everyone amused for about half an hour. We got downstairs just as more people arrived. A huge group of people, all with red hair, came walking in through our front door. It was the entire Weasely clan.

I stood at the foot of the steps as Harry and his friends went down to greet them. Even Blaise went down and Harry introduced him. I felt the jealousy coming again. I tried to push it back as I inspected the Weasely family. I haven't seen them all before. The girl, Ginny, the twins, and the older one with glasses, I knew them from school. But the two older ones were new to me. One was kind of short, but extremely built. He looked like someone who did a lot of work that required muscle. The other one was taller and more slender, with longer hair and an ear ring on one of his ears. Attached to his arm was the girl who came in our fourth year to compete in the triwizard tournament. I can't remember her name at the minute.

Behind the Weasely family I saw Pansy and Theo with their families. I almost sighed in relief. I never realized how outnumbered I felt with all the guests that had shown up so far. Why were they coming so early anyway? It's not like my mom really needs any of the help. I walked down and greeted Pansy and Theo. I looked back at Harry and saw him in between the Weasely twins; both of them had their arms around him. There was that jealousy again. Why did I freak out whenever someone touched my Harry? Wait… He isn't mine anymore… I hate myself.

After what felt like forever, the party finally started. There were so many people in the manor's ball room. I had lost sight of my friends, and of Harry. I weaved through all the people, trying to find someone. I saw a lot of Harry's friends here, too. They _did_ help out in the war. My mother was really serious when she said she was going to invite everyone involved in the war. I never thought I'd see so many half-bloods and muggleborns at my house. I was just about to give up hope when I heard something.

"Come on Harry! You can't sulk around all night." I turned around to see the female Weasely dragging Harry onto the dance floor. Harry had a reluctant look on his face but he wasn't doing anything to stop her. I glared at her hands, which were holding onto Harry's wrists. Didn't she have a boyfriend? Why wasn't she dancing with him? A slow song came on and I cursed my luck. It's bad enough that he had to dance with her, but a slow dance?

I continued glaring at them as they moved to the music. Harry had his arms on her waist and hers were around his neck. She was leaning her head on his shoulder and from what I could tell, Harry's lips were moving. They were having a whispered conversation as they danced. I never in my life had ever wanted to be a Weasely anymore than I did now.

"Stop staring, its rude," a voice joked behind me. I turned around and saw Theo standing there, holding a butter beer.

"Shut up," I grumbled, but I did stop staring at the couple. That didn't stop me from glancing at them every now and then.

"Pansy told me about the necklace you planned on giving Harry," Theo pointed out. "I think it's a good idea, but I also agree with Pansy. You can't buy his love, Draco."

"I'm not trying to buy his love," I replied. "Even if he still hates me I want him to have the necklace. The first thing I thought of when I saw it was him. I'm just hoping it'll get him to realize that I really didn't mean to hurt him."

"I hear that he isn't one to hold grudges, though," Theo glanced over to where Harry was dancing. A new song had started but they were _still _dancing. How long were they going to do that?

"But we messed around with his feelings, would he really forgive that?"

"Remember fourth year? Harry told me once how he and Ron stopped talking to each other 'cause Ron was pissed Harry got into the tournament. Ron was harsh to him but he managed to forgive him in the end."

"But that's his best friend. And Harry doesn't seem like the type to throw away a good friendship because of jealousy."

"Harry forgave all those people who thought he was the next Dark Lord during third year. And I heard that Finnigan really have him a hard time when he kept trying to convince everyone that you-know-who was back, accused him or being a liar and stuff. He forgave all of them."

"But those were his friends. Harry and I weren't really friends. And those people had false assumptions. I knew about the bet."

"Just think positive, Draco."

"Since when are you so damn positive Theo?"

"Someone has to be positive," Theo shrugged. "And, I actually think that Harry will get back with you if you try hard enough."

"What do you know?" I stared at him accusingly. There was something about the way he said all those things. He knew something. I bet Blaise told him what happened between him and Harry earlier. They weren't telling me something. Ugh! I hate it when my friends conspire against me. Theo only gave me the same smirk that Blaise did. He wasn't going to tell me either. Why the hell do my friends like keeping things from me?

"I know that instead of getting jealous of every single person who even comes within two feet of the guy, you should go out there and prove to him that you really love him."

"He doesn't want anything to do with me," I said sadly. "He won't even look at him. So there's no way he'll forgive me."

"Draco, you're not even trying!"

"I'm giving him the necklace tomorrow. That's trying, isn't it?"

Theo sighed. "You are pathetic, Draco."


	17. Chapter 17

I lay in my bed, staring up into the darkness. The party had long ended and everyone was already gone, except of course, my mother's cousins. Harry was here in my house, sleeping in the guest wing somewhere. It was way past midnight, already Christmas. I checked the time and saw that it was 2 a.m. In just five hours, everyone would be waking up and getting together in the family room to open presents. I couldn't sleep. Tomorrow was making me nervous. I tossed and turned around for a while before sleep finally came.

I awoke to the sound of a squeaky voice calling me. I groaned and turned over and saw one of the house elves staring at me. The house elf's eyes widened and she quickly told me that my parents were calling me downstairs so everyone could open presents. She sounded scared. She probably thought I was going to punish her for waking me up. I always was cranky in the morning.

I threw on some clothes and cast a spell that would make me look presentable. I made sure to put Harry's present in my pocket before I walked down the stairs and heard voices coming from the family room. I walked in and saw that everyone _was_ there already. They had the fire running. And my father was sitting on his arm chair while my mother was on the couch with Nymphadora. Sirius and Remus were next to them and Harry was sitting on the floor, leaning on the couch. He was wearing pajama bottoms and a very large t-shirt. His hair was messier. He seemed to have just gotten out of bed, too, though he looked happier than I did. I wonder if he was a morning person.

"There you are, Draco," my mother was the first one to see me at the door way. "Now hurry here so we can all open presents!"

I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes at how excited my mother sounded. She was probably happy that she could spend time with family other than Bellatrix. I had to agree with her. Aunt Bella was a little on the crazy side.

I took my seat near Harry on the floor. He glanced at me briefly before turning back to the fire. I noticed Sirius Black giving me an odd look before returning to his coffee. Oh great, did Harry's godfather know what I did to him, too?

Everyone began to open presents. I ripped the wrapping off of my gifts but didn't really pay attention to what was inside. They didn't matter to me right now anyway. I stole as many glances of Harry as I could. He looked happy, and that was always good. As much as I wanted him back, I rather he be happy. I stuck my hand into my pocket and felt the gift that was in there. I didn't want to give it to him in front of everyone. I didn't want him to reject my present and me in front of my family and his. I decided to wait.

Once all the presents were opened, we moved to the dining room for breakfast. I was getting impatient. The only time I perked up doing breakfast was when my mom suggested Sirius, Harry, Remus, and Nymphadora stay for the rest of the holidays. I silently prayed that Sirius, who seemed to be the decision maker, accepted. I looked across the table and could tell that Harry was praying for the opposite thing I was praying for.

Apparently, the gods were smiling down on me instead of Harry. Sirius accepted. Nymphadora, or Tonks as she liked to be called, declined because she had to get back together. I took a drink of my juice to hide the grin that was coming on my face. I almost jumped for joy when my mother mentioned that they were redecorating the guest wing, so Harry had to take the guest room in my wing. Today was definitely my day.

I walked up to my wing with Harry in silence. It wasn't that I didn't try to start conversation; Harry refused to talk to me. He had his fists clenched at his side and I bet he was angry. Once we approached the doors, Harry left my side.

"Harry wait!" I grabbed his arm and stopped him from opening the door. "Before you go in, there's something I want to give you. I was supposed to give it to you earlier but I realized I couldn't do it with everyone down there."

"What?"

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the small box. I wrapped it in a deep red paper and put a gold bow on it. It was Gryffindor colors. I thought he would appreciate it. I handed it over to him, who stared at the small box in confusion.

"I got you something for Christmas," I explained. "I know we're not on good terms right now, but I really wanted to get this for you. I thought about you the instant I saw it. Just take it. Do whatever you want with it; keep it or throw it away, it doesn't matter. I just had to give it to you."

As soon as he took the box from me I let him go and walked into my room, closing the door behind me. I know I was being a coward, but I couldn't help it. As much as I wanted to see his face when he opened it, I didn't want to see disgust or anger at the fact of me giving him a present. I heard a knock on my door after about. I went up to it and forced my hand to stop shaking when I went to the knob.

"Here," Harry pushed a package towards me before he went back to the room. I stared down at the package I held in my hands. He had gotten me a present? I felt a smile tugging at my lips and closed my door. I went over to my bed and sat down.

The package was wrapped plainly. I saw a small card with my name on it. I smiled and unwrapped it slowly. I didn't want to ruin the paper. I usually didn't' care with my gifts, but this was from Harry. Once all the wrapping was off, I picked up my gift. It was a book. It looked really old. I opened to a random page and saw random symbols. I looked back to the title of the book and saw that it was in symbols, too. Then, I realized that the entire book was written in runes. Thankfully, I took Ancient Runes class.

I stared at the intricate symbols and gasped when I recognized the title. Harry had given me a potions book. From what I remember from Severus, this particular book was really rare. There are only about two in existence, and I now own one. I closed my mouth; it wasn't Malfoy-like to have your mouth hanging open. This must have cost a fortune! Where did Harry get the money for this? Better yet, where did he even find this? I felt a smirk coming to me. I bet Severus would be jealous. I rushed out of the room and knocked on Harry's door. I had to thank him for this.

"Harry, where'd you find this?" I asked as soon as the door opened. "This book is so rare. Severus has been looking for it for years!"

"That last Hogsmead weekend before the holidays started, I snuck off to Diagon Alley and searched around for it. I actually found it in this old potions shop. The place was closing down because the owner had died. He had no other family so they were selling all his stuff. I saw that book and when I asked about it the lady there said she didn't really know what it was. It was just a potions book that was in the man's family for so long, but it was written in runes so the man couldn't even read it himself. She was planning on throwing it away. I was actually supposed to give it to you that day I was going to meet you at the lake."

I saw his eyes hardened and I felt the guilt building up again. He was going to give this to me the day he found out about the bet. Maybe today wasn't my day after all.

"Harry, I really am sorry about that day. If you'll let me, I'd like to explain myself."

"I kind of want to go back to sleep," Harry explained, already opening the door. "How about at lunch or something?"

"Sure, lunch sounds fine. Thank you again for the gift." I noticed that he wasn't wearing my gift. I hope that didn't mean he hated it. He can't have hated it, right? He wouldn't have given me my gift if he hated what I got him. Unless…he was only giving it to me because I gave him a gift first. Maybe he didn't even open my gift yet.

I went back into my room and tried not to think about it. I had to worry about what I was going to say to Harry when I talked to him later.


	18. Chapter 18

I started pacing around the room. Harry had been asleep for three hours now. When was he going to wake up? I know he needed to rest, but I really wanted to talk to him. I wanted to know if he forgave me or not. I've been pacing around the room for what felt like hours already. I must have worn a hole into the floor already. But I couldn't sit still. I had tried to translate the book Harry had given me but I was too nervous. I couldn't concentrate on anything else but Harry.

I heard a knock on my door and practically jumped out of my skin. I forced myself to calm down. I glanced at the mirror to make sure that I looked presentable. Once I was satisfied with my hair, I opened the door. Harry was standing there. He had already dressed and had probably just gotten out of the shower because his hair was still damp.

"Hey, sorry I took a while. I was more tired than I thought," Harry explained, a sheepish grin on his face. He looked so good.

"It's alright, I was actually trying to translate that book you gave me," I lied. It wasn't a lie really. I _did_ try to translate it. I just had too much on my mind to actually put effort into it. "Would you like to come in?"

Harry nodded and I moved out of the way so he could get past me. He went to the couch and took a seat. I decided to go sit next to him. "Uhm…"

"So…" Harry started, looking as unsure as I felt. "I guess I should start."

I could only nod and wait for him to begin.

"I can't say that I wasn't hurt, Draco," I gave a small smile when I heard him use my first name. It was better then having him call me Malfoy, that's for sure. I listened as he continued. "I really did like you and I thought that you felt the same. When I found out about the bet, I was so hurt. And I wanted nothing more than to stay mad at you forever so I don't have to deal with you or the pain I felt when I found out that you only approached me because of a stupid bet. But then, Blaise explained everything to me."

"Blaise?" I interrupted him. That's what they were doing when Blaise called him out yesterday? Blaise told him about this bet? What did he say? "What did Blaise say?"

"Nothing much," Harry shrugged. "He just told me it was all his idea. And he even told me why he suggested the bet in the first place. So, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told him: I was really hurt Draco, because I did like you. I think I still do actually. And, I need time to get over this."

He still liked me? Yes! That meant I had hope after all, right? I could still get him back. I had to take a deep breath to calm myself down. I was so excited. "Harry, I really do like you. I didn't realize it until we started spending time together because of the bet. I'll be honest; at first, it was only because of the bet. But then I asked you out and I started realizing there was more to this than a game. I fell for you. But I was too afraid to tell you because I thought you or Ron would kill me when you found out about the bet. And I had too much pride to stop the bet, especially with Blaise taunting me all the time."

"I sort of understand, I think." Harry said. "I mean, Blaise tried to get me to understand, and I do. I just… need time."

"If you want time, then I'll give you time, Harry," I probably sounded really eager, but I couldn't help it. "You can take all the time you need."

"Thank you. By the way," Harry reached into his shirt and pulled out something. My eyes widened when I saw the silver chain around his neck. "Thanks for the necklace. It's beautiful. I love it."

"I was hoping you would," I smiled at him. He let go of the chain and the dragon pendant fell against his black shirt. It stuck out and was shining in the light. It really did look good on him. "And thank you so much for the book. I really love it. And I told Severus about it early and he freaked out."

"Great to know my gift did that," Harry grinned at me.

A loud pop caught our attention. A house elf had come and told us that lunch was ready. I didn't want to go and give up my alone time with Harry, but I know we had to. I stood up and lead Harry outside. I walked behind him when we made our way downstairs.

If he wanted time, then I'll give him time. I bet Blaise and the other's will mock me for life when they find out that I'm going to go through so much just for one person; it really isn't like me. But, Harry was different. He was worth it. I'll wait forever for him if I had to.

**My first ever author's note ^_^ yay to me. Lol. Anyway, this is the second to last chapter. I just want to say thank you for all the reviews and the time you guys gave my story. It meant a lot. Seriously. It really motivated me to keep writing. Anyway, I got another story lined up after this. I hope you guys can find the time to give that a look ^_^**


	19. Chapter 19

The rest of winter holidays with Harry went great. I tried to spend as much time with him as I could, but it was still a little awkward. We had been back at Hogwarts for a month now. Harry and I are still just friends, though our relationship has gotten much better. He's more comfortable around me, now. He's even taken to hugging me every now and then.

I was right about how the others would react when I told them about waiting for Harry. Pansy was shocked. For a week she gushed about how I was in love with Harry and how cute it was. I like Harry. A lot. But, I don't think I can go so far as to say that I love the boy just yet. But of course, Pansy won't listen. I swear girls turn into monsters when it comes to love. Theo and Blaise kept pushing me to spend time with Harry. Sometimes they went so far as to abandon me when Harry passes by. Those two know something. Harry told Blaise something when they talked and he told Theo. I'm pretty sure Harry didn't tell me everything he told Blaise. I've tried to weasel it out of the two boys but their lips were sealed. Pansy seems to know, too, but she was too caught up in the idea of love to really be any help.

Ron and Hermione were speaking to me again. Ron gave me the third degree for a couple of weeks but Harry seemed to talk him out of it. I was grateful. I've never been so afraid of Ron hurting me before. When I used to tease him, he never acted like that. The only other time he's ever tried to hurt me was when I called Hermione a mudblood. I guess hurting his friends is like a signing a death wish with him.

I looked up to see that our professor was still droning on about the elf and troll wars from like a thousand years ago. I hate History of Magic. It always put me to sleep. Or, maybe it was just the teacher, I don't know. I suppressed a yawn and tried to keep myself awake. I glanced around the room. Pansy was flipping through a magazine that was on her lap. Theo was doing his homework for the next class, and Blaise was doodling on a piece of parchment. Millicent was reading the magazine with Pansy and Crabbe and Goyle were asleep in the back, but what else do you expect from those two. It's a little surprising they've made it this far without having to repeat a year.

We had this class with Gryffindors, so I decided to stare at them for a change. Hermione was the only one who seemed to be paying attention the lecture. Longbottom looked like he was trying to take notes, but every now and then you could see his head fall forward then shoot back up again while he tried to keep himself awake. Weasely was snoring quietly with his head on his arms. The two other Gryffindor girls were passing notes back and forth. Thomas was busy writing something, but I highly doubt it were notes. And Finnegan was staring out the window.

I shook my head and tried not to laugh. The Gryffindors really were a boring bunch. So I turned my attention to the only Gryffindor who really mattered to me: Harry. He was asleep like Ron was. His head was rested on his arms and his hair fell in front of his face. He'll need a haircut soon. He looked so relaxed and peaceful. I noticed him twitching a little. Was he having a bad dream?

His eyes opened slowly and he yawned, rubbing his eyes with his fists. He looked cute like that. He stretched and looked around him. He didn't seem to find anything interesting because he rested his head on his arms again, probably to go back to sleep. That's when he noticed me staring at him from the other side of the room.

He smiled at me then reached down to search through his bag. What was he doing? He found a small scrap of parchment and wrote something on it. He looked up to see that the teacher wasn't looking at him and pulled his wand out of his robes to spell the parchment to get to me. I took the note as soon as it was within reach. Blaise shot me an amused look but I only glared at him.

I unfolded the note. It only had one question on it: Want to have lunch together?

I turned to Harry, who had his head back on his arms, and nodded. He grinned at me then shut his eyes, going back to sleep. I suddenly felt so awake. Although Harry and I spend lots of time together, this was the first time he asked me to anything. It had always been me who invited him to do things.

After class ended, I walked over to where the Gryffindors were seated. Hermione was trying to wake up Ron. She looked up and glanced at Harry, asking me to wake him up. I smiled and started shaking the smaller boy. "Harry, wake up, class ended."

"Huh?" Harry said groggily, opening his eyes and sitting up to stretch. He looked around and noticed that most of the class was gone. He grabbed his books and put them into his bag. I looked over at Hermione who was shaking Ron furiously. I shook my head and chuckled. I felt bad for her.

"Hey 'Mione, me and Draco are going to go now, alright?" Harry told her, already heading for the door. I saw Hermione nod and pull out her wand. I was already out the door when I heard Ron's surprised yelp. I wonder what she did to him. Harry grinned and told me that Hermione probably conjured ice water to wet him with. She's done it before. We walked into the Great Hall in silence. We grabbed some food and went to the lake to eat.

I sat down and leaned against a tree, Harry sitting next to me. I took one of my sandwiches and started to take a bite out of it. Harry did the same. Neither of us talked for a while. I felt something brush against my pinky and looked down. Harry's hand had moved closer to mine and now our pinkies were touching. I moved my hand a little closer until it was on top of his. Harry glanced at me briefly before going back to his food. I took that as a good thing and interlaced our fingers. I thought I saw a smile on his face, but he took another bite of food so I couldn't be too sure. I felt a pressure in my hands and my eyebrows shot up. Did Harry just squeeze my hand?

"What?" Harry asked. I blushed and turned away at being caught staring. I heard a small chuckle coming from Harry.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Nothing, I just never saw you this jumpy before."

"I'm not jumpy!" I argued. How dare he call me jumpy? I wasn't jumpy, was I?

"I don't mean it to upset you," Harry laughed, holding up his hand that I wasn't holding defensively. "I'm just saying that you're usually so calm and collected, you know? You've been different lately. And Blaise and Theo _and_ Pansy all say that its not normal for you to behave like this."

"What have Blaise and Theo been telling you?" Blaise and Theo may be conspiring against me and keeping stuff from me, but Harry might be able to tell me what those two know.

"Nothing," Harry replied a little too quickly for my liking. He was hiding something from me. I knew him enough to know he was a horrible liar.

"Harry, tell me," I said firmly. Harry only stuck his tongue out at me and shook his head no. I growled and let go of his hand. I saw something flash in Harry's eyes and suddenly, all the childish teasing was gone. He looked like was about to apologize; he needs to work on not feeling so bad all the time. I had to hide a smile at how cute he looked. He moved closer to me but I turned away from him.

Harry kneeled behind me and tried to get me to look at him. I shifted around so I wouldn't' have to face him. I waited until my back was leaning against his chest. Then I turned around as fast as I could and started tickling him.

"No fair!" Harry shouted between laughs. But I didn't stop. I smirked down at him. He was red in the face from laughing so much. He laughed and leaned forward, bracing himself on me while he tried to catch his breath. He didn't seem to realize that our faces were only inches apart.

I stared down at Harry. His eyes were still shining with laughter. His lips were parted slightly as he tried to catch his breath, and his cheeks were still tinged with pink from all the laughter. And then I moved without thinking. I couldn't help myself; he just looked so…kissable. The next thing I knew, my lips were on his. They were softer than I remembered.

I wasn't sure how long the kiss lasted, but Harry was the one who broke it. He pulled away, looking more flushed, his eyes slightly wide. I was feeling light headed again. I never thought I'd miss the light headed feeling I got from kissing him. The feeling went away when I suddenly realized what he did. Shit! He'll hate me again! I turned away, not wanting to see the anger in his eyes.

Instead of words of anger, I heard laughter. My eyebrows once again shot up to my hairline and I slowly turned back to face him. Harry was shaking with laughter. "What's so funny?"

"It's about time," Harry finally said, grinning up at me.

"Huh?" about time? What was he going on about?

"I was starting to wonder if you'd ever realize that I wanted to be more than friends again," Harry explained.

"I thought you needed space?"

"I did," Harry shrugged. "For like a day. But I didn't want to be the one to approach you. I wanted you to do it so I can tell that you really did want to be with me. I even told Blaise and the others to let you figure it out on your own."

"So that's why they've been pushing me to you more than ever!" It all made sense to me now.

"Yeah," Harry laughed. "I didn't think you'd take this long. Now, I have to go find Blaise."

"Why?"

"Well, Blaise started a bet to see when you'll finally make a move on me. I just won myself twenty galleons." Harry grinned.

I grabbed his hand and stopped him from standing up. He almost fell over but I held him tight and pulled him onto my lap. I leaned forward and captured his lips with mine once more. After what felt like hours, we finally pulled away. Damn us for needed to breathe.

"You know," I said, wrapping my arms tighter around his waist and placing my forehead on his shoulder. "This whole experience stopped me from wanting to take bets."

"That's good," I felt Harry rest his head against mine.

"But Blaise needs to learn how to stop before he gets a gambling problem." Ideas started forming in my head for a way to get back at Blaise for doing this to me. "I bet if we did to him what he did to me, he'll stop for good."

"Hmm… You know, Seamus has a crush on Blaise. And I've noticed the way Blaise looks at him sometimes."

I smirked at this piece of information. Blaise was going to get a taste of his own medicine. I lifted my head and shared a mischievous grin with Harry before our lips were locked together once again.

**The end.**

**Hope you liked it. ^_^ **

**And thank you all sooo much for following me and this story for how long now. And thanks for the great reviews. They meant a lot. Hope this ending satisfied you guys!I have a new story up so if you have some time, check it out ^-^**


End file.
